Thomas v. Home Depot USA Inc.

The defendant did not breach any legal duty to prevent the plaintiff from being injured by a third party's independent acts when the plaintiff bent down to retrieve a plastic bag and punctured her eye on a "tomato tower" protruding from the cart behind her in a checkout line at the defendant's store.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Anne Thomas sued Home Depot after she punctured her eye on a “tomato tower” that was protruding from the cart behind her in the checkout line. The trial court granted Home Depot’s motion for summary judgment and Thomas appeals, claiming the trial court erred in concluding that Home Depot did not breach any duty owed to Thomas, and also erred in concluding that Thomas could not show that any alleged breach of duty was the proximate cause of her injury. For the following reasons, we disagree and affirm. Summary judgment is proper when the evidence, construed in the nonmovant’s favor, shows that no issue of material fact remains and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. A defendant may prevail on summary judgment “by showing the court that the documents, affidavits, depositions and other evidence in the record reveal that there is no evidence sufficient to create a jury issue on at least one essential element of plaintiff’s case.” Emphasis omitted. Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins , 261 Ga. 491 405 SE2d 474 1991.

The relevant facts in this case are undisputed. Thomas stated that she was in the checkout line in the Garden Center at the Home Depot in Cumming, Georgia when the incident occurred. Thomas asked the cashier for a plastic bag and as the cashier was handing the bag to Thomas, it fell on the floor. Thomas bent down to pick up the bag and felt something sharp strike her in the eye. Thomas afterward learned that she had been struck by the sharp end of a “tomato tower”1 that was protruding from the shopping cart of the customer behind her in line. Thomas said she thought the customer may have been pushing the cart forward when she was struck and there was other evidence that the customer was pushing his cart forward as Thomas bent down to pick up the bag. This customer was never identified because he left the store immediately after Thomas was injured.

Thomas v. Home Depot USA Inc.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report