WINFIELD – A Putnam County woman says she fractured her wrist when she tripped over boxes scattered on the floor at a Dollar General store.
Diane Ruby Dotson filed her complaint Sept. 15 in Putnam Circuit Court against Dolgencorp LLC, doing business at Dollar General.
Dotson says she was a guest at the Dollar General in Buffalo on Aug. 8, 2014, when the incident occurred. She was walking in an aisle that had “boxes scattered on the floor, containing merchandise that was presumably waiting to be stocked.”
As Dotson walked down the aisle, she says she tripped on one of the boxes, and that she fell on her hands to catch herself.
“After the plaintiff fell, she asked for the manager to report the incident,” the complaint states. “The manager specified that the incident would be reported.”
Dotson says she then went to the emergency room at Holzer Medical Center, where she learned she had fractured her wrist. She had an X-ray taken, and she was told to call an orthopedic surgeon on the next Monday.
On Aug. 11, Dr. Emmanuel Konstantakos with Holzer diagnosed Dotson with a distal radius fracture in her right wrist. He set her wrist and told her she likely would need surgery.
On Aug. 13, Dotson’s wrist was placed in a cast for a month. After a month, the doctor removed the cast and discovered the wrist hadn’t healed. He scheduled surgery for Sept. 15, 2014.
After the surgery and physical therapy, Dotson’s wrist was healed “despite continuous pain.”
Also, the complaint says a physical therapist noted she “has a deformity with the bone protruding out from the ulnar end of the wrist and she did not get her complete functioning back in her wrist.”
Dotson accuses Dollar General of negligence. She seeks compensatory damages for her injuries, medical expenses, pain and suffering and mental anguish. She also seek pre- and post-judgment interest, court costs and other relief.
She is being represented by David M. Adkins of the Adkins Law Firm PLLC in Hurricane. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Phillip M. Stowers.
Putnam Circuit Court case number: 15-C-222