14 DAY TRIAL // A widower is suing Wal-Mart as he finds the company responsible for his wife's death. The woman developed a cut and a subsequent infection after a trip to the supermarket.
She did her shopping at a Wal-mart store in Nebraska three years ago. She purchased several items who were crammed into a few bags. One of the bags was overstuffed and, by the time she got to the parking lot, it broke.
Her husband, William Freis of Plattsmouth, described that the cashier had only provided one bag for two 42-ounce (1.2-kg) cans of La Choy and a 2-pound (0.9 kg) bag of rice.
As the plastic bag ruptured under the weight of the products, it spilled and a La Choy can landed on the woman's foot. The incident took place on April 16, 2010, at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on 15th Street.
Freis's attorney, Gage Cobb, described how the woman incurred a cut and a big toe fracture. Lynette Freis developed an infection. While she was treated for her wounds, the infection spread through her body and she passed away.
"Despite multiple rounds of antibiotics and two surgical procedures, Lynette Freis' condition declined and infection spread throughout her body, which led to hospitalizations 'and ultimately resulted in her death on March 12, 2011,'" the Journal Star reports.
Now the widower is suing Wal-Mart, the company that manufactures the bags, and the distributor.
He has filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., producer Hilex Poly Co. of South Carolina, and distribution company Bunzl Distribution, registered in Missouri.
Freis is asking for $656,000 (€495,000) to pay medical and burial bills and he also wants an additional unspecified amount for emotional distress. He cites that Wal-Mart doesn't properly train cashier for this type of situations.
"Customer safety is a top priority, and we take it seriously any time an injury is reported in one of our stores," Wal-Mart spokesman Randy Hargrove has expressed, without commenting on the trial.