Operating Engineer Slips At Grocery Store Injuring Elbow ($1.5 Million)

A Union Operating Engineer recovered $1.5 million after suffering a severe elbow injury that was complicated due to the treating physician burning the nerve in the elbow during the surgery.

The Case

A Shorewood man was shopping at Eagles Grocery store on New Years and as he rounded a corner, he slipped on a trail of Tilex droplets in an aisle at a grocery store in Joliet. The action was prosecuted in Will County.

In-Depth Look

Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates’ filed a products liability claim against Clorox Products claiming that their Tilex bottles leaked and when placed into the distribution line, were sometimes improperly capped. Clifford Horwitz, who heads the lead trial team at Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates, claimed that the process of capping was defective and that older and cheaper machines were used to cap the product making them more likely to slip. Horwitz also claimed that Eagle, the grocery store, should have cleaned the floor before the incident. It appeared from the evidence that an unknown customer probably had the Tilex cleaning solution bottle in their basket when it leaked due to other products pressing up against it.

Clorox argued that the plaintiff could not prove which bottle leaked or that he even slipped on Tilex. Further, they argued that the elbow injury became so serious due to the malpractice of the treating physician. The plaintiff recovered another $900,000.00 in the malpractice claim against the treating physician. Finally, Clorox argued that their product was safe and that plaintiff couldn’t prove it leaked because there were no records of it leaking.

However, after extensive research, Horwitz found a former employee of the distribution plant where the Tilex was bottled. That employee came forward and explained the capping process and how it was common for Tilex bottles to leak. Clorox, Eagle, the manufacturer of the cap and the bottle all contributed to the settlement.