Man blames Sam's Club, treadmill maker for injuries

CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County man is suing over claims he was injured while trying to transport a newly purchased treadmill.

Timothy Halloran filed a lawsuit Sept. 8 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., doing business as Sam's Club; Icon Health & Fitness Inc.; John Doe No. 1, an individual; John Doe #2, an individual; and John Doe Inc.; citing negligence.

According to the complaint, Halloran purchased a Pro-Form treadmill, manufactured by Icon Health & Fitness, from the Sam's Club on Mountaineer Boulevard in South Charleston on Sept. 11, 2012, and two unknown Sam's Club employees loaded the packaged treadmill into Halloran's vehicle, but failed to inspect the plastic carrying straps manufactured by an unknown company for Icon for the purpose of transporting the treadmill. Halloran says the treadmill was positioned in an unsafe way for him to remove it from the vehicle, and when he attempted to do so, the defective straps broke, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain injuries to his shoulder, including a torn rotator cuff that required surgery.

The Sam's Club defendants are accused of negligence in failing to properly train the employees who loaded the treadmill into Halloran's car. Icon is accused of failing to ensure the treadmill was safe to transport in its boxed form, and the company who manufactured the carrying straps is accused of failing to properly do so.

Halloran is seeking compensatory damages, interest, attorneys' fees, and court costs.

He is being represented in the case by attorneys William C. Forbes and W. Jesse Forbes of Forbes Law Offices, PLLC in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Charles E. King.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 14-C-1658