A Wood River man claims he sustained injuries to his back and left shoulder after a Lowe's employee drove a forklift near the area where he sat, causing a picnic table to crash into him.
Paul House filed a lawsuit April 14 in Madison County Circuit Court against Lowe's and its unknown employee.
House claims he visited the Lowe's at 1619 Homer Adams Parkway in Alton on June 3, 2008, when he decided to sit at a picnic table located at the merchandising display outdoors.
"That as the Plaintiff was sitting on the picnic table, Defendant John Doe while he acted within the course and scope of his employment and/or agency with Lowe's, was driving a forklift and attempting to move other picnic tables in the area," the suit states. "That as the Defendant was moving said picnic tables, he drove the forklift into another set of attached picnic tables, causing one of the tables to fall and strike the Plaintiff."
In addition to his back and shoulder injuries, he experienced pain and suffering, incurred medical bills and lost large sums of money, the complaint says.
House claims Lowe's and its employee negligently failed to maintain a proper lookout while operating the forklift, drove a forklift into stacked merchandise where customers may be sitting, failed to prevent stacked merchandise from falling onto a patron, failed to prevent customers from moving into an area where employees moved merchandise with a forklift, failed to warn the customers of the dangers of falling merchandise and failed to maintain proper control of the forklift.
House seeks a judgment of more than $50,000, plus costs.
Samuel A. Mormino Jr. of Mormino, Velloff, Edmonds and Snider will be representing him.
Madison County Circuit Court case number: 10-L-420.
Lowe's customer claims forklift driver caused picnic table to hurt him
ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY