Lowe’s Companies Inc. could be on the hook for punitive damages in a premises liability suit that went to trial about recently in Nevada state court alleging that the home improvement retail giant’s failure to clean up standing water in an outdoor area of the store caused a customer to slip and suffer a significant brain and neck injury.
Plaintiff Kelly Hendrickson claims she fell in a Lowe’s store in 2013 while shopping for plants in the outdoor garden section. Her lawsuit states that her fall was caused by a “slippery substance on the floor” and that she sustained “severe, serious and permanent injuries and damages.”
Hendrickson’s attorney have argued that 33 other accidents had already occurred at Lowe’s stores under similar conditions prior to Hendrickson’s fall and that they knew standing water in the outdoor garden area at their stores posed a danger to customers.
