Customer Fell While Reaching For Bag Of Kitty Litter At PetSmart
On June 5, 2004, plaintiff Ronald King, 63, a construction project manager, was shopping at a PetSmart store in McKinney. He was attempting to pull a bag of cat litter from a shelf when his fingers slipped off the bag. Backward momentum caused him to step back onto a wooden pallet. His foot lodged between slats of the pallet, and he fell backwards, breaking both bones of his lower leg.King sued PetSmart and PetSmart Inc., Phoenix, alleging negligence under a theory of premises liability in that the pallet, which had some items in it, was being used for stocking but left unattended and there was no warning of the threat of unreasonable risk of harm.The defense contended that the pallet did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm.
On June 5, 2004, plaintiff Ronald King, 63, a construction project manager, was shopping at a PetSmart store in McKinney. He was attempting to pull a bag of cat litter from a shelf when his fingers slipped off the bag. Backward momentum caused him to step back onto a wooden pallet. His foot lodged between slats of the pallet, and he fell backwards, breaking both bones of his lower leg. King sued PetSmart and PetSmart Inc., Phoenix, alleging negligence under a theory of premises liability in that the pallet, which had some items in it, was being used for stocking but left unattended and there was no warning of the threat of unreasonable risk of harm.The defense contended that the pallet did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm.
The jury found that PetSmart was 100% at fault and awarded plaintiff $300,000.