Lawsuit of the Day: Wal-Mart Truly Is Vomitous

Today’s Lawsuit of the Day comes to us from Davenport, Iowa, courtesy of the Quad-City Times (via How Appealing):

First came a puddle of vomit and a fall, then a classified advertisement and now a lawsuit against Wal-Mart.

June and James Medema of Blue Grass, Iowa, filed the suit May 22 in Scott County District Court, alleging that negligence led to June Medema suffering severe personal and permanent injuries in a June 13, 2005, fall at the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on West Kimberly Road in Davenport. The couple is asking for at least $5,000 in damages, according to the suit.

The facts, while colorful — think puke green — are pretty straightforward. What we really enjoyed were the amusing reader comments appended to the original news article.
Check them out, after the jump.


Here are some of our favorite comments (selected from a much larger group):

1. “ambulance chasers and those that can’t walk and chew gum at the same time! What a combo. Would a retail store really leave a puddle of barf on the floor? Why would they do something like that which would obviously lead to them losing business? Sounds like people that never want to take responsibility for their own actions. I hope somebody barfs at the plaintiffs house and then .5 seconds later there is an accident and they get sued. How would they feel about that?”

2. “Yup, responsibility also lies with the person who did the vomiting. That person should have reported the incident so store personnel could clean up the mess, instead of just leaving it there. I doubt that anyone wants to step in it. Vomit is a bio hazzard and I am sure that it not being cleaned up represents an OSHA violation. Stores are liable for shoppers’ injuries on their property. This also goes for garage sale people who put up a sign that says, “not responsible for injuries”. Guess what? Doesn’t matter. You are.”

3. “It may just be me, but I know I would SMELL it and if I did, I sure wouldn,t STEP in it! Some kid probably got sick and his Mom rushed him into the bathroom and didn,t report it.”

4. “If ‘June Medema suffered serious neck and upper back injuries from the fall, has undergone a number of surgeries and is disabled from work’. I want to know how $5000 will cover ‘a number’ of surgeries, disability, and legal fees? Is the cost of medical and legal fees that much cheaper in Blue Grass? I think we have a new definition of ‘country pumpkin’ [sic] here.”

5. “Well, this was in a Walmart, so I could see how a ‘puddle’ of vomit might be indistinguishable from the rest of the store environment. Does Iowa have a ‘concealed vomit’ statute on the books?”

6. “All of your comments above are ridiculous. These are friends of mine and trust me they don’t need the money (they have plenty) it’s just the point Walmart takes no responsiblity and most workers there don’t get paid crap so they they don’t do much!!!! June was very hurt and not all people look at the floor when they walk unless I guess your an idiot that can’t walk and push a cart at the same time. I am sure if this happened to u or anyone you know or care about anyone would do the same..To hm: Is it your job to run your mouth online about stuff you know nothing about! These two work REAL hard and I am sure make a lot more money than u!! Also would give u the shirt of their backs. Really -if they didn’t have money and were ‘too lazy to get a job’ don’t u think they would ask for A LOT more..Just a point of Walmart not taking responsibility…”

You can read the entire, unintentionally hilarious comment thread over here.
Suit seeks $5,000 in damages from Wal-Mart over vomit incident [Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa) via How Appealing]

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