BECKLEY — A man is suing Rural King for injuries he suffered while at its Mount Hope store.
Curtis W. Caruthers went to Rural King on Aug. 1, 2020, to purchase wire panels for his farming operation when an employee took him to an area to retrieve the items when the employee pulled over or let loose heavy panels that were improperly stacked and the panels fell on the plaintiff, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The panels fell onto the plaintiff and knocked him to the floor, the complaint states, and the plaintiff suffered injuries, including a displaced intertrochanteric fracture of the left femur.
Caruthers claims he was taken via ambulance to the hospital and underwent a surgical procedure to repair the fracture.
"He has had extreme pain and suffering as a result of this injury," the complaint states. "Since he was unable to do any physical labor for a long period of time he had to liquidate his cow herd and farming operation."
Caruthers claims his injuries are permanent and he has pain and discomfort on a daily basis.
Caruthers is seeking compensatory damages. He is represented by J. Steven Hunter of Steven Hunter Associates in Lewisburg.
Rural King, in its answer, argues that Caruthers fails to state a claim or cause of action upon which the court can grant relief.
"Defendant states that the Plaintiff was comparatively negligent for causing his injuries," Rural King stated in its answer. "Defendant states that it committed no act which proximately caused and/or contributed to Plaintiff’s damages."
Rural King argues that it did not perform any wrongful acts or omissions as alleged by the plaintiff and that Caruthers' alleged injures were proximately caused by a superseding and/or intervening act and/or by third parties over which Rural King had no control.
Rural King is represented by Chip E. Williams and Jared C. Underwood of Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe in Beckley.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 5:22-cv-00286