Injured Home Depot shopper awarded $1.5M

New York City The Home Depot has been ordered by a jury to award $1.5 million to a customer and his wife in a personal injury case stemming from a forklift accident inside a store, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported. The accident occurred at a Home Depot in Marietta, Ga.

According to the complaint, in November 2005 shopper Larry Reece fell and suffered neck and spine injuries after a pallet of plywood fell 24 ft. from a forklift. The wood hit a barricade that knocked over Reece, who wound up trapped under the plywood.

As part of the verdict, Reece’s wife was awarded $30,000 for loss of marital relations, said the couple’s attorney, Jeff Shiver. The attorney said medical expenses for Reece’s neck injuries were about $120,000, including surgery to repair herniated discs.

Shiver said his client accepted Home Depot’s offer for punitive damages, but the case went to a jury over personal injury damages.

The accident occurred at a store on Roswell Road in Marietta.