Man Awarded $7.5 Million In Lawsuit Against Walmart After He Tripped Grabbing A Watermelon

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It happens all the time after I run up an insane bar tab. I think about how I’d be happy to take a fall through one of those grates on the street to pocket a few mill from the city. My dad would never be able to look me in the eye for being a freeloader, but screw it, it’s not like he brought me into this world and worked his ass off to put food on the table.

An Alabama man has “suffered” the most fortuitous broken foot and hip there ever was, after he  tripped and fell while reaching for a watermelon at Walmart.

According to the Daily Mail, 59-year-old Henry Walker won a $7.5 million verdict in his lawsuit against the retailer–$2.5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.

Walker’s lawsuit states that his foot became trapped in a pallet beneath the watermelons as he reached for one of the fruits at a Phenix City Walmart on June 25, 2015. He claims that he used to play basketball three times a week, but now is forced to get around with a walker.

One of Walker’s attorneys claims that the pallet should have been covered so that it could not entangle a shopper’s foot. Jurors viewed security footage from the Walmart store and saw several other people have their feet caught in the side opening of the pallet, the attorney claims.

Randy Hargrove, a spokesperson for Walmart, said to AL.com, “We are disappointed in the verdict and believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts in this case. We plan to appeal.”

‘Walmart continues to display watermelons in the same manner as it did on June 25, 2015,’ the company in a court filing on Wednesday.

‘These displays come to the store from the producer already packaged and ready to be dropped and displayed.’

Welp, if anyone needs me, I’ll be at the Walmart trying to jam my foot in a pallet. See you there.

[h/t Daily Mail]

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.