An eastern Nebraska man is suing Wal-Mart for a defective plastic bag that, he claims, resulted in the death of his wife.
William Freis of Plattsmouth has had his case moved to the District Court in Omaha. Filed in February the allegation states that the bag failed on April 16, 2010 outside of a Wal-Mart store in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue. According to Fox News, the lawsuit states that the cashier placed two 42-ounce cans of La Choy and a 2 pound bag of rice in a single bag. The bag failed in the parking lot and one of the cans fell on Lynette Freis' toe, cutting and fracturing it. The resulting injury led to an infection that spread through her body and, despite antibiotics, hospitalizations and two surgical procedures, resulted in her death in March of 2011.
The lawsuit claims the company failed to teach its cashiers proper bagging procedures including when to double-bag heft purchases. The manufacturer of the bags, Hilex Poly Co. was also named in the suit alleging that the bag was defective. St. Louis-based Bunzle Distribution, which provided the bag to Wal-Mart was named in the suit as well.
The lawsuit seeks nearly $657,000 for medical and funeral expenses, plus an unspecified amount for her pain and suffering as well as the loss to her husband.
None of the companies, or defendants, in the case have yet filed an answer. However, Fox News reports Wal-Mart is seeking to take the case to a federal court.
A Wal-Mart spokesperson, Randy Hargrove, extended his condolences to the family with a statement that read: "customer safety is top priority, and we take it seriously any time an injury is reported in one of our stores."
Hargrove declined to comment directly on the allegations against the company in the lawsuit. It will now be up to the courts to decide whether or not this suit is frivolous or if it will indeed go to the next stages of litigation.
