Jurors clear Wal-Mart in fall suit
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A Washington County jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes on Tuesday before deciding that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was not at fault for a slip-and-fall accident last year.
Bart Bumpass sought damages from the retail giant for an accident at its Sixth Street store in Fayetteville on June 24. He claimed neck injuries and pain resulted from the fall. His medical bills totaled $ 11, 735.
The case was heard before 4 th Judicial District Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn.
Bumpass' girlfriend, Misty Dawn Williams, testified that he was wearing flip-flops on a rainy day when he slipped on the wet floor and fell on his back, just beyond the store's entryway.
Security video did not record the fall, but it showed that two orange caution cones stating "caution wet floor"were in place during the time of the fall.
Bumpass waited about 20 minutes before filling out an accident report - after he called and consulted with his father, Wal-Mart's attorney, Dale Brown, said during opening remarks.
His father, Ron Bumpass, is a Fayetteville attorney who specializes in personal injury cases. Brown pointed out that the chiropractor the plaintiff went to for treatment also handles patients who are personal injury clients of Bart's father.
Brown also told the jury that Bart Bumpass' general practitioner refused to give him pain medicine for the alleged injury because he was already under a "pain contract."
The plaintiff stipulated to the fact that his pain contract since 2003 has provided him with 90 hydrocodone pills and 60 Valium pills each month.
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