Injured Home Depot customer awarded $1.5 million
Posted: 07.01.2009 at 7:34 AM

Larry Reece says a pallet of plywood fell on him from a forklift

Photo

(AP) -- A jury has awarded a Home Depot customer and his wife $1.5 million in a lawsuit stemming from a forklift accident at a store. 

The complaint by 58-year-old Larry Reece says a pallet of plywood fell on him from a forklift at a Home Depot in Marietta GA in 2005, knocking him down and causing neck and spine injuries.  Jeff Shiver, an attorney representing Reece, says his client accepted Home Depot's offer for punitive damages, but the case went to a jury over personal injury damages. He says Reece was unable to resume his work in residential construction after the accident. 

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes says the chain has tried to do the right thing by accepting responsibility and by making fair offers ro compensate Reece for his injuries.

(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)