Georgia Man Awarded $1.5 Million in Home Depot Slip and Fall Case

A jury in Cobb County, Georgia has awarded a man and his wife $1.5 million in a personal injury lawsuit stemming from a fall that took place in a Marietta Home Depot store.

According to the lawsuit filed by Larry Reece, Reece suffered neck and spine injuries after a pallet of plywood fell 24 feet from a forklift, causing him to fall.  The plywood hit a barricade, knocking Reece over and trapping him under the wood.

As part of the verdict, Reece's wife was awarded $30,000 for loss of marital relations, while Reece himself was awarded $120,000 for medical expenses.

Although the Reece accepted Home Depot's offer for punitive damages, the case went to trial over personal injury damages, according to the Reece's attorney Jeff Shiver.

In the lawsuit, Reece claimed that he was unable to return to work as a construction worker due to his injuries.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said the store "regrets that Mr. Reece was injured while shopping in our store. One of our core values is to do the right thing, and we've attempted to live up to that value by accepting responsibility for this incident and making many fair offers to compensate Mr. Reece for his injuries prior to this verdict."

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