A Florida jury awarded $2.7 million to the family of a 9-year-old boy who passed away years after hitting his head on a metal cart in Walmart, Jurors found that the megastore was only partially to blame for the boy’s death, resulting in a substantially reduced verdict.
The tragic incident involved Saiy-Yah Allen, a 9-year-old who died after a two-and-a-half-year battle with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic seizures caused by injuries sustained on November 25, 2020, at a Walmart store in Fort Lauderdale.
Following Saiy-Yah’s death, his family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, claiming that Walmart’s failure to maintain safe store conditions and violated its own safety rules directly contributed to the child’s untimely death.
Court documents state that the then-7-year-old boy walked into the handle of a metal stock cart jutting into an aisle, striking his head first on the handle and then on the floor.
The jury awarded Saiy-Yah’s estate a total of $9 million but determined that Walmart was only 30% responsible for the boy’s injuries, yielding a $2.7 million award.
A representative for Leeder Law, the family’s legal representation, stated that each of Saiy-Yah’s parents bore 30% of the blame for his injuries, while his estate bore 10% of the blame.
“This verdict represents a bittersweet victory. Nothing can bring back this cherished child and gifted artist. Saiy-Yah loved to draw and create art with pride and precision, and this decision confirms that his life was invaluable,” attorney Thomas H. Leeder said in a statement.
“Walmart’s negligence ruined a young artist’s future, which held so much promise. We hope that this decision serves as a wake-up call to corporations worldwide: prioritize safety and follow their own safety rules, or face the consequences.
Saiy-Yah’s sister testified at trial about her brother’s seizures in the years that followed the incident.
Miharah Allen told me, “He would shake a lot, look in a different direction, and then he would shake and make noise, too.” “Every time he ate, he would throw up; he would throw the food up or use the bathroom on himself.”
The company stated in court documents that the boy “failed to use his senses” and was not looking where he was going when he walked into the cart.
“Walmart is not liable for the incident as the stock cart was so open and obvious that [Saiy-Yah] should have been reasonably expected to discover it and protect himself (by simply walking around it), and a stock cart is so obvious and not inherently dangerous that it can be said, as a matter of law, not to constitute a dangerous condition that will not give rise to liability due to the failure to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition,” the lawsuit’s motion stated.
Unfortunately, Saiy-Yah’s inattentiveness led him to miss the stock cart’s handles, which his sister, who was not walking with her head turned, saw. [Saiy-Yah] failed to use his senses and was walking while looking backward, so he missed the open, obvious, and innocuous stock cart.”
“We sympathize with any family experiencing loss. The jury found Walmart not guilty in most cases. Under current Florida law, Walmart would bear no financial responsibility for the judgment. We are awaiting a decision on a directed verdict and exploring all post-trial options.”
The Walmart spokesperson appears to be referring to Florida’s new comparative fault system, which was modified last year when the state passed legislation that prohibits plaintiffs in negligence lawsuits from recovering damages if they are found to be more than 50% at fault for their own injuries.
The Leeder Law spokesperson explained that, in addition to Saiy-Yah’s estate being only 10% to blame, the new statute did not apply to his case “because this lawsuit was filed before the tort reform occurred.”
