Date: 06-15-2012
Case Style: Carry Bruce v. Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P.
Case Number: 11-CV-365
Judge: Claine V. Egan
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: Clark Otto Brewster and Marvin Geovanny Lizama
Defendant's Attorney: Mark Thomas Steele, Lindsey Elizabeth Alberts and Brandy Lynn Wandres
Description: Carry Bruce sued Wal-Mart Stores East, L.P. on a diversity of citizenship personal injury theory.
On September 25, 2008, Carry Bruce was shopping at Wal-Mart store No. 472 in Broken
Arrow, Oklahoma. She selected a fleece blanket and other items, and she attempted to check out
a cash register. Bruce believed that the fleece blanket rang up at the wrong
price and the cashier, Marge Hargis, asked Bruce to show her where Bruce found the fleece blanket.
Bruce and Hargis left the cash register to check the price of the fleece blanket. Bruce and
Hargis checked the price of the blanket and returned to the cash register. Hargis was walking in
front of Bruce, and Bruce and Hargis were having a conversation. Bruce slipped and fell
as she approached the cash register, and she claims that she injured her left knee as a result of the
incident. Bruce claims that she did not see anything on the floor before she fell, but she noticed a
brown liquid on the floor after her fall. The brown liquid was the color of soda and
Bruce does not recall the size of the spill.
Wal-Mart has produced photographs and video surveillance footage of the area of the store
where Bruce fell. Wal-Mart states that the floor was covered with white or light-colored tile where
Bruce fell, and the dark liquid on the floor would have been open and obvious to a person exercising
reasonable care. Some of the photographs show that there was a dark liquid, such
as a soda, on the floor, but the size of the spill is unclear from the photographs. The
video surveillance footage does not clearly show any substance on the floor, but it is apparent that
Hargis walked through the same area before Bruce fell.
Outcome: Settled and dismissed with prejudice.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments:
