Walmart might have to pay an Army veteran $7.5 million after he broke his hip while buying a watermelon

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Walmart might have to pay an Army veteran $7.5 million after he broke his hip while buying a watermelon

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A jury awarded $7.5 million to a man who broke his hip while shopping at Wal-Mart.

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  • A 59-year-old Army veteran sued Walmart after breaking his hip after getting his foot caught in one of the store's displays.
  • A jury awarded him $7.5 million on Thursday.
  • Walmart plans to appeal the ruling.

Henry Walker, a 59-year-old Army veteran, might be awarded $7.5 million after he broke a hip while shopping at a Wal-Mart in Alabama, according to AL.com.

In June 2015, after picking out a watermelon from a display, Walker's foot became caught in a wooden pallet beneath the watermelons. Walker didn't realize his foot was stuck, and after he turned away from the display, he fell and broke his hip.

Walker decided to sue Walmart for being negligent toward the store's unsafe conditions, and the jury agreed with him, deciding to award him a total of $7.5 million on Thursday after looking at footage from the store's security cameras and realizing that Walker was not the only customer to get stuck in the watermelon display.

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Walmart plans to appeal the ruling. "We are disappointed in the verdict and believe that the damages awarded were excessive in light of the facts in this case," a company spokesman told AL.com