A woman has filed a personal injury case against Walmart and Frito-Lay after she was hit by a large metal cart while shopping.

On Jan. 8, plaintiff Geraldine G. alleges, she was shopping at a busy Walmart in Tennessee when she was suddenly knocked to the ground by a metal cart that was being pushed by a Frito-Lay employee. She claims she was knocked backwards and hit the back of her head on the hard floor. She incurred injuries to her tailbone, back, neck and head, and she also briefly lost consciousness, according to her personal injury case.

Geraldine says she was admitted to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma (blood pooling between the brain and the skull caused by burst blood vessels). She was moved to the intensive care trauma unit on Jan. 9, and she was discharged from the hospital on Jan. 11.

Geraldine allegedly continues to suffer emotional and physical pain, interrupted sleep patterns, extreme fatigue, and periodically suffers from the ability to articulate what she means. According to the personal injury case, “These injuries are believed to be permanent in nature and will prevent [Geraldine] from going about her normal activities for the remainder of her life.”

How Personal Injury Claims Work

The personal injury case against Walmart and Frito-Lay illustrates some of how personal injury claims work. A person may have a viable personal injury claim if they can answer “yes” to these questions:

• Did they incur psychological or physical injury?
• Did the negligence of a person or business cause those injuries?
• Are their damages recoverable?

Geraldine could answer yes” to all three questions, according to her personal injury case. She alleges she suffered physical injuries because the Frito-Lay employee drove the metal cart into her at Walmart, knocking her down. She claims she incurred medical expenses as a result of injuries from this accident, which are recoverable damages.

According to Geraldine’s allegations, Walmart and Frito-Lay are responsible for her injuries. Walmart has a duty to ensure that while guests are shopping on its premises, the guests should be reasonably safe from harm.

Geraldine’s personal injury case claims Walmart should not have allowed Frito-Lay to stock its shelves during a time the store was populated with heavy traffic. At the least, Geraldine believes Walmart should have placed warning signs to allow customers to be aware the large metal carts would be a possible hazard.

How personal injury claims work also depends upon the circumstances. In this case, the Frito-Lay employee allegedly was not watching where he was going as he pushed the large metal cart at an unreasonable speed through a pedestrian aisle. Geraldine’s personal injury case faults the Frito-Lay employee for negligent behavior and for failing to place warning signs and audible alerts around the area where he was stocking shelves.

The Personal Injury Case is Case No. 3:18-cv-00044-TWP-CCS in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.