CLARKSBURG — A trial date has been scheduled for a case involving allegations of unsafe conditions at a Lowe's store in Morgantown.
The trial is scheduled to begin on June 15, 2020, according to the scheduling order filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. A joint pretrial order is due May 20, 2020, and a mediation report is due 10 days after completion of mediation, if that occurs. Discovery must be completed by Feb. 3, 2020.
Lowe's previously filed an answer in the case, denying the allegations against it and arguing the complaint fails to state a cause of action upon which relief may be granted.
"Lowe’s is not guilty of any fault or wrongful conduct that proximately caused or contributed to plaintiff’s claimed injuries and damages," the answer states. "The conduct of another or others was a competent producing cause of the plaintiffs’ alleged injuries, damages or losses, invoking the doctrines of contributory and/or comparative fault, comparative contribution and common law indemnity, in the event that discovery warrants the application of this defense."
Geri Anne Medley and Russell E. Medley sued Lowe's last year after they went to the Morgantown store on March 13, 2017, to make a purchase, according to a complaint.
The plaintiffs were walking through the parking lot when Geri Anne Medley was caused to trip on uneven pavement and was injured. The dangerous, defective, hazardous and unsafe condition of the parking lot caused Geri Anne Medley's injuries, according to the suit. The plaintiffs claim the defendants should have warned patrons of the unsafe condition in the parking lot.
Geri Anne Medley was acting in a reasonable, careful and prudent manner at all times while walking through the parking lot, according to the suit. The injuries that Geri Anne Medley suffered included injuries to bones, ligaments, tendons, vessels, nerves and tissues of the left knee, which required physical therapy; a right ankle avulsion fracture off the tip of the distal fibula; bruises; shock and anxiety; and other serious injuries, according to the suit.
Russell Medley claims he suffered a loss of consortium when his wife was injured.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. They are represented by Frank Walker II of Frank Walker Law.
Lowe's is represented by Monte Williams and Elizabeth Stryker of Steptoe & Johnson.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 1:18-cv-00224