An elderly man claims he sustained serious injuries after he slipped and fell over an “unmarked, and unwarned elevation change” at an Ocala Walmart that his attorneys claim was camouflaged by an outdoor mat in the garden section.
Attorneys representing Michael Reynolds filed the lawsuit against Walmart Stores East, LP, and the manager of the location where the incident occurred in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County on June 24.
According to the the lawsuit, on July 20, 2023, Reynolds visited the Walmart located at 4980 E Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala. The complaint states that Reynolds is over the age of 74 and is a “Florida citizen.”
While he was walking through the garden center at the facility, Reynolds “fell with force over an abrupt, dangerous, hazardous, inconspicuous, nondelineated, not readily apparent, optically blending, unattended, uncommon, uncorrected, unexpected, unguarded, unleveled, unmarked, and unwarned elevation change(s) along the premises,” according to the complaint.
According to Reynolds’ attorneys, at the time of the incident, the alleged tripping hazard was “concealed/hidden” by a “non-building code compliant carpet/mat/rug/runner.” In specific, the “uniform color, material, and texture present throughout” the mat, “plus the lack of any warnings” combined to “camouflage/mask the unanticipated elevation change, effectively creating an optical illusion of continuity, flatness, and levelness.”
The complaint also claims the runner was prone to “inefficient backing/traction” for the “heavy pedestrian traffic” and commercial use for which it was being employed.
Furthermore, Reynolds alleges that the mat exhibited “curls/buckles/humps/ripples/wrinkles” while on the ground due to the “tortious act/conduct and/or the individual/personal negligent action or inaction of the Ocala-based manager” of the establishment.
Reynolds’ attorneys argue that the store’s “actions/inactions resulted in a dangerous and uncommon walking surface in design and/or mode of construction and/or operation, an obstacles course of sorts for unaware and unwarned business invitees.”
The lawsuit accuses Walmart and the manager in question each of one count of negligence, and one count of a premises liability claim.
Reynolds is seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages.