Wal-Mart is in the middle of a plastic bag lawsuit after a man claims that an overfilled bag is the reason for her death.
According to the Journal Star, William Frieis of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, says that his wife, Lynette, died because of an overfilled bag given to her at a Bellevue store broke. The woman went shopping on April 16,2010 at a Wal-Mart store and the cashier only gave her one bag for two 42-ounce cans of La Choy and a 2-pound bag of rice, making it very heavy. While the woman was walking to her car, one of the La Choy cans fell on her foot, broke her big toe and caused a deep cut, according to the lawsuit.
According to William Freis' attorney, Gage Cobb, the cut led to an infection. Lynette went through many rounds of antibiotics and two surgeries, but her condition decline and the infection spread throughout her body. She was hospitalized and died on March 12, 2011 as a result, the lawsuit claims.
Freis first sued Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the distributor of its plastic bags, Missouri-based Bunzl Distribution, and the manufacturer, Hilex Poly Co. of South Carolina, in Sarpy County District Court.
The case was transferred to U.S. District Court in Omaha last week.
The lawsuit alleges that Wal-Mart was negligent for not training its employees to properly fill a grocery bag and knowing when to double bag it instead of overfilling it. The suit also says that Wal-Mart gave Lynette a defective grocery bag.
The lawsuit seeks more than $656,000 in medical expenses and an unspecified amount for the pain and suffering she went through, the funeral and burial costs and William's loss of consortium.
Wal-Mart and the other defendants have not filed an answer yet but Wal-Mart attorney Heidi Guttau-Fox sought to move the case to federal court.
Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove extended condolences to the family of Lynette.
"Customer safety is a top priority, and we take it seriously any time an injury is reported in one of our stores," Hargove told the Journal. The company is investigating the allegations.
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