BECKLEY – A Greenbrier County man blames Walmart after he fell into a tank of oil and water in the store’s auto care center.
Robbie McGee filed his complaint in U.S. District Court against Wal-Mart Associates Inc. and John Does 1 through 10.
According to the complaint, McGee worked as a service manager of the auto care center at the Walmart on North Eisenhower Drive in Beckley. He began working at the facility in 2001.
McGee says he notified management in early 2018 that the metal doors to the oil-water separator tank had become rusty and needed replaced.
The tank is located at ground level on the maintenance floor and was covered by two metal doors which allowed employees to walk freely onto and around the doors without falling into the tank. The doors were supported by metal beams that prevented the doors from collapsing inward when employees walked on top of the doors to access the area where tires were stacked.
About a month after he notified management, McGee was told the metal doors on the tank would be repaired.
The day after the unknown John Doe defendant companies came in to work on the doors, McGee was back at work. He was walking on the metal doors on his way to stack tires when the door collapsed, causing him to fall about six feet into the pit.
McGee says the companies brought in to repair the doors instead removed the metal doors’ structural beams entirely, making the doors unsupported and unsafe to walk across as they were before.
He accuses Walmart of deliberate intent and the John Doe defendants of negligence.
He says he sustained severe and permanent injuries, including pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of capacity to enjoy life, annoyance, inconvenience, emotional distress, permanent injuries and impairment, permanent scarring and disfigurement, past and future medical expenses, past and future lost income and earning capacity, past and future loss services, protection, care and assistance and other damages.
McGee seeks compensatory damages, court costs, attorney fees, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief.
He is being represented by D. Blake Carter Jr. and Taylor M. Norman of Bailey Javins & Carter LC in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 5:20-cv-00162
