The jury awarded Sandra Sporl, a merchandiser for a grocery supplier, $811,507 dollars in damages for a trip and fall. While working in the back-stock area of a poorly maintained Dorignac's Food Center warehouse, Ms.Sporl fell over a pallet jack, sustaining head, neck, and back injuries.

The back-stock area is where products were received and stored for Dorignac's grocery store located in the same building. 

At the time of the incident the back-stock area had pallets and pallet jacks in disarray.  It was also overstocked with inventory due to the holidays.  Ms. Sporl had even complained about the condition of the area before the incident. 

Dorignac’s Food Center Warehouse

As Ms. Sporl was stocking merchandise, she took a step behind her and tripped on a pallet jack, causing her to fall and severely injure herself.  A pallet jack is a metal device used to manually move pallets of product.

Pallet Jack

The Defense accepted no responsibility and argued that the condition of the loading bay was obvious, and the Plaintiff's injuries were not caused by the accident. The jury agreed with Centola, who argued a domino effect of numerous negligent workplace actions led to the injury.

If you suffered injuries due to negligence, please contact us at 504-581-9065.