Small Town Mom Scores Epic Legal Battle Win and Scores a $10M Jackpot Against Walmart!
A South Carolina woman has won $10 million in a lawsuit against Walmart after she stepped on a rusty nail in a store location and had to have her leg amputated.
Jones said she was walking by some pallets inside a South Carolina Walmart in 2015 when she felt a sharp pain in her foot.
Jones found a rusty nail had pierced her shoe and gotten lodged in her foot, according to a lawsuit she filed in 2017. She went to the hospital to have the wound treated, but an infection followed, according to the suit. Court records do not specify what type of infection afflicted Jones.
According to the release, Jones had to have her right leg amputated above the knee following the incident. She has been in a wheelchair for six years, and the verdict will allow her to purchase a prosthetic and make her home more accessible, the law firm said.
A jury deliberated for about an hour and a half after hearing evidence in a five-day trial. According to the law firm, one of Walmart’s experts testified during cross-examination that the nail was the cause of the injury.
“The weakness of Walmart’s case, among other things, was their failure to produce a video that they claim showed their conforming behavior to a company policy calling for employees to perform regular safety sweeps,” the news release said. “No such evidence was presented for the duration of the five-day-long trial.”
Trial counsel Roy T. Willey IV added, “The jury sent a message to Walmart that if you come into Florence County and injure one of their own, they will make sure that person is taken care of. We are forever grateful.”
In response to the lawsuit, Walmart released a statement, however, the company continues to deny its mistake:
“This was a tragic accident, and we are deeply sorry for Ms. April Jones’ injuries. We firmly believe that we were not negligent in this case. While we sympathize with Ms. Jones, we are pleased that the jury found there was no willful or wanton conduct on our part in this case,” the statement read.
Attorneys for Walmart plan to reopen the case and they plan on working with investigators during their investigation into how this incident occurred.
According to AWM:
In addition to the millions of dollars awarded from Walmart, Jones was also taken care of by an additional $400,000 insurance policy that she had through her employer at the time – a subcontractor for Kohler Cabinetry in Florence County, South Carolina. The jury decided on this amount because they agreed with the defense counsel’s argument that this policy should be included and considered as part of the case.
The jury ultimately decided on a multi-million-dollar settlement for Jones, who will now have to live with her disability after she lost most of her right leg due to Walmart’s negligence.
Watch the video below for more details:
Source: AWM