Aragon v. Wal-Mart Stores East, et al., No. 13-1508 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff, driver of commercial motor vehicles, filed suit against Wal-Mart and others after he was injured when pallets fell onto him from a trailer. The court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants, concluding that no reasonable jury could have found that the absence of securing devices was anything other than open and obvious to plaintiff. Further, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations placed the duty to secure cargo on carriers to inspect cargo to confirm that it is secure before and during transport of the cargo in a commercial motor vehicle. Plaintiff failed to demonstrate that the exceptions to this rule applied to him where he had not set forth sufficient facts to show that he was carrying a sealed load and was ordered to break the seal to secure the load, nor has he established that inspecting the cargo was impracticable. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil case - Torts. In a negligence action by truck driver who was injured when shrink-wrapped pallets fell on his ankle, the district court did not err in granting summary judgment for defendants as the defect which caused the injury - the absence of securing devices - was open and obvious to the driver; under the applicable safety regulations, the carrier, rather than defendants, had the duty to secure the cargo.
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