Herniated nucleus pulposis injury claimed in Wal-Mart shopping cart incident

A woman says a shopping cart at Wal-Mart caused her to jar her back after its side popped and struck her in the leg.

Deborah Wiess filed a lawsuit Sept. 8 in Madison County Circuit Court against Wal-Mart Stores.

Wiess claims she was shopping at a Wal-Mart in Highland on Sept. 5, 2008, when a shopping cart she was using malfunctioned and the side of the cart popped out, hit her leg and caused her to jar her back.

Because of the incident, Wiess suffered pain and bruising to her lower leg, pain to her low back that radiated down her left leg and a root compression and a recurrent herniated nucleus pulposis, according to the complaint. In addition, she was required to undergo surgery to remove disc fragments in her back, incurred medical costs, lost wages because of her inability and suffered significant pain to her low back, the suit states.

Wiess blames Wal-Mart for failing to provide a safe shopping cart, for failing to maintain the shopping cart that was defective, for failing to provide safety checks on its carts, for failing to warn Wiess that its shopping carts could malfunction and for failing to provide a safety device on its cart that would keep it from malfunctioning, the complaint says.

Wiess is seeking a judgment of more than $50,000, plus other relief the court deems just.

Heidi L. Leopold of Martin, Malec and Leopold in St. Louis will be representing her.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 09-L-936.