A Costco shopper is suing the wholesale giant for $670,000 after an altercation with store security left him with a broken leg, according to Reuters.
Timothy Walls from Oregon filed a lawsuit last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court claiming security broke his leg after he refused to show his receipt, Reuters reported.
After spending $102.66 in a Portland Costco store in January last year, an employee grabbed Walls' shopping cart and told him to present his receipt for inspection, which he refused, Walls said, according to Reuters.
Then, another Costco employee used a "martial arts type strike" that fractured his leg in multiple locations, according to his civil complaint, Walls alleges, Reuters reported.
Costco responded in its court filings saying that Walls refused to show his receipt, then threw an employee against a wall and struck him in the throat after the worker called for a manager to resolve the dispute, according to Reuters.
Walls' attorney argues the lawsuit is about more than his broken leg, but with the store's procedure, Reuters reported. Costco argues Walls' injuries were "the sole and direct cause of Plaintiff's own actions," according to court papers.
"We have, throughout the country, observed big box stores that have implemented policies to check all receipts at the door," Walls' lawyer Clayton Morrison said, according to Reuters. "They can have that policy. But if the person refuses to show their receipt, what is lawful for the store? Can they detain you?"
According to Morrison, Costco could have prohibited Wells from returning to the store, but forcing him to stay with no reason to suspect him of a crime amounted to "unlawful holding," Reuters reported.
Walls is asking for $500,000 for pain and suffering, $150,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for lost wages, and has requested a jury trial, according to Reuters. A trial date has not yet been set.
