Woman Sues J.C. Penney After Falling Over Sign

Signs advertising sales or specials may be a common sight in retail stores, but a woman from Orange, Texas claims a particular plastic sign at a J.C. Penney was not clearly visible, resulting in her sustaining personal injuries when she tripped and fell over it in 2008.

In a suit filed in Texas’ Jefferson County District Court on December 21 by Wilda Stewart, along with her husband Ray, J.C. Penney is accused of negligence in its placement of the sign in a high traffic area.

According to court records, Stewart was shopping at the J.C. Penney store at Parkdale Mall in Beaumont, Texas, when she tripped on a clear plastic sign “that had been placed in a main traffic area,” resulting in her falling to the ground, landing shoulder-first on a center concrete support post adjacent to the bedding area.

The suit says that the part of the sign Stewart tripped on “was not clearly visible and constituted an unreasonable risk of harm.” The suit notes that the sign wasn’t attached to the floor or any other structure and could have easily been moved by anyone.