Wal-Mart sued, man claims overfilled plastic bag led to wife's death

[Noir Angel]

A failure to either supervise or train properly is a failure of the employer, ultimately the buck for health and safety goes to the top, and as putting too much weight into a bag is a foreseeable safety risk that could have been avoided wal mart's management do bare responsibility for the failure of their employees to do their job properly. The way the woman ended up dying was unusual and impossible to predict but like it or not the injury she received is responsible.

[FloatingFatMan]

A failure to either supervise or train properly is a failure of the employer, ultimately the buck for health and safety goes to the top, and as putting too much weight into a bag is a foreseeable safety risk that could have been avoided wal mart's management do bare responsibility for the failure of their employees to do their job properly. The way the woman ended up dying was unusual and impossible to predict but like it or not the injury she received is responsible.

 

Unless the bag has a stated weight limit ON the bag, and they bag on a set of scales, how is the person bagging meant to know how much is too much?

[Noir Angel]

Common sense, or proper training? It's not exactly difficult, if you put large bulky items with sharp edges or heavy items (usually I double bag anything that goes over 2KG) into a bag, you double bag it to make sure.

[FloatingFatMan]

Common sense, or proper training? It's not exactly difficult, if you put large bulky items with sharp edges or heavy items (usually I double bag anything that goes over 2KG) into a bag, you double bag it to make sure.

 

Ah, but bottles and cans don't have sharp edges, and you can't sue someone based on common sense.  Not everyone can judge the weight of things, you know.  It's an acquired skill.

[techbeck]

Not everyone can judge the weight of things, you know.  It's an acquired skill.

 

Its not rocket science.  And products are clearly marked how much they weigh.

[FloatingFatMan]

Its not rocket science.  And products are clearly marked how much they weigh.

 

At the speed you have to pack, good luck studying packages to find their weights without getting a massive backlog behind you.

[techbeck]

At the speed you have to pack, good luck studying packages to find their weights without getting a massive backlog behind you.

 

Not hard to judge the weight and if it is to much.  If you cannot do that, better of mopping floors and cleaning toilets instead.

[FloatingFatMan]

Not hard to judge the weight and if it is to much.  If you cannot do that, better of mopping floors and cleaning toilets instead.

 

Let's see you do it and get it spot on every single time.

[techbeck]

Let's see you do it and get it spot on every single time.

 

I did...for a full year in high school.  It is not hard.  It is easy.

[Growled Member]

At the speed you have to pack, good luck studying packages to find their weights without getting a massive backlog behind you.

I've done it a few times back in my school days and it's a bit of a job. You don't have time to even breath, much less worry about weights.

 

All in all, another ridiculous lawsuit. 

[Hum]

Where did personal responsibility go ?

 

The woman should have used better judgement before she left with the packages, by asking for a double bag -- or two separate bags.

 

She could have used a cart to get to the car.

 

And she could have worn more protective shoes, which I suspect hers were flip-flops or sandals.

 

You can't assume that 'someone else' is always going to look out for you.

[Growled Member]

Where did personal responsibility go ?

What is this personal responsibility you speak of? Must be something before my time. :P

[techbeck]

I've done it a few times back in my school days and it's a bit of a job. You don't have time to even breath, much less worry about weights.

 

I worked at a grocery store for a year in high school.  It just takes a split second to determine how heavy something is.  You have to pick it up after all.

 

Where did personal responsibility go ?

 

The woman should have used better judgement before she left with the packages, by asking for a double bag -- or two separate bags.

 

Maybe the person was trained incorrectly bagging.  I never asked people if they wanted things double bagged.  I determined that myself.  Maybe training has changed in the last 20 years or so.

[Arachno 1D]

We are of course making a big assumption that the statement is actually true after all where is the proof?

[DocM]

I would think her death certificate would do for much of it. It's not like she's hiding in the attic. As to incident, you can bet the stores security tapes will be called into evidence.

[Noir Angel]

It is up to the person carrying the bag to check they are suitable for purpose much like a wagon driver is responsible for their load but given its the US Im sure some wimpy judge will find in her favour.

 

No it isn't, it is up to the supplier of the product to ensure that they are fit for purpose

 

Ah, but bottles and cans don't have sharp edges, and you can't sue someone based on common sense.  Not everyone can judge the weight of things, you know.  It's an acquired skill.

 

Unless the person packing the bag is a brainless drooling moron it's not exactly that hard to judge

[Shadrack]

Got to be careful when bringing up lawsuits like this.  This guy could be on the line to pay WalMart's legal fees if he loses the case.  That would add some serious insult to injury.  Don't listen to ambulance chasing lawyers.  Their advice gets you into a lawsuit where you are on the losing end and you end up having to pay their fees and the defendant's fees.  The lawyers just laugh all the way to the bank no matter what the outcome.

[Shadrack]

I would think her death certificate would do for much of it. It's not like she's hiding in the attic. As to incident, you can bet the stores security tapes will be called into evidence.

 

I suspect those security tapes are at this point destroyed due to their retention policies.  I suspect that they have a policy of only keeping video segments that help them in prosecuting shop lifters or in the case of an assault in their parking lot.  But I'm just speculating.  If they can't find the video feed in question they could be in trouble for evidence expoilation (sp?) but you'd have to prove that WalMart destroyed the video feed because they knew it was evidence that was going to be used against them.

[Shadrack]

Unless the person packing the bag is a brainless drooling moron it's not exactly that hard to judge

 

<insert derogatory statement about the people who work at WalMart here>

[Arachno 1D]

No it isn't, it is up to the supplier of the product to ensure that they are fit for purpose

 

The bags were and still are fit for purpose and as I said previously it would be hard to prove the issue stems from the bag splitting [even if the said incident can be seen on video].It could be stated in defense that it was caused by lack of care to any injury that "may" have been caused by the incident.

[DocM]

Not if care was sought in a reasonable amount of time after the incident. Basic first aid initially, then a physician or ER visit at the first sign of it going wonky - 24 to 72 hours.