BJ’s Wholesale Class Action: Accident Report Procedures Are Inadequate

A Connecticut federal judge ruled last month that it was premature to dismiss a possible BJ’s Wholesale class action lawsuit which challenges the company’s procedures for handling accident reports filed by customers.

Plaintiff John O’Reilly alleges he was shopping at a BJ’s store when an employee broke a bottle of OxyClean cleaning solution, causing the cleaner to splash into his eyes and onto his face. He immediately washed out his eyes and was then asked to submit a written accident report to the manager.

It took O’Reilly 20 minutes to complete the accident report, and he was told he would receive a copy of the it, the BJ’s Wholesale class action lawsuit alleges.

“In the following months, Plaintiff has been to the emergency room several times as a result of falls caused by blurred vision,” O’Reilly says in the BJ’s class action lawsuit. He claims his health and eyesight has been adversely affected, as well as his ability to walk. O’Reilly says he has fallen several times, causing injury to his hip, knee, foot and back.

O’Reilly says he provided pictures of the injuries he sustained during the falls to BJ’s Liability Claim Coordinator, who allegedly remarked that it was unclear how the OxyClean eye injury and a leg injury were related.

According to O’Reilly, BJ’s unfairly denied him access to the original accident report. His attorney was also denied access to the report, the BJ’s class action lawsuit alleges.

O’Reilly claims that BJ’s encourages workers not to report workplace accidents. When incidents are not reported, the hazards that caused the accident are not addressed, he alleges.

O’Reilly says BJ’s Wholesale breached its duty to maintain its store premises in such a manner to avoid customers becoming injured and that it failed to properly train its employees to act in a safe manner while handling potentially hazardous materials.

As a result of BJ’s negligence and its breach of duty to O’Reilly, he suffered bodily injuries, pain, medical expenses for the treatment of the injuries, physical handicap and lost wages. He says his ability to work has been impaired because of his disability, which are allegedly permanent or continuing in nature. According to the BJ’s class action lawsuit, O’Reilly will continue to suffer these losses and impairment in the future.

The BJ’s Wholesale class action lawsuit asserts an individual claim for negligence. In addition to representing himself, O’Reilly also seeks to represent a Class of “all individuals who have been victimized by BJs Wholesale Club and its employees by its accident reporting and treatment actions designed to frustrate and deprive plaintiff and all others similarly situated of fair and due recourse for their injuries.”

O’Reilly is seeking Class certification, compensatory damages, consequential damages, general damages, punitive damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief deemed proper by the court.

O’Reilly is representing himself.

The BJ’s Wholesale Accident Report Class Action Lawsuit is John O’Reilly v. BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-01351-MPS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.