Pothole mishap prompts lawsuit against retailer

From Staff Reports

   A Johnson City woman has filed a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores following an incident involving a pothole in the parking lot of the retailer's Elizabethton store.
   Plaintiff Charlcie Hord Turner's lawsuit alleges negligence against the retail giant and is seeking $175,000 in damages after she claims she injured her ankle when she stepped in a pothole in the store's parking lot in January this year.
   Filed in Carter County Circuit Court on Monday by Johnson City attorney Thomas Jessee, the complaint reads that Turner had been shopping at the Elizabethton Wal-Mart on January 11, 2002, when she exited the store and proceeded across the parking lot to her vehicle.
   As she was entering her vehicle, the lawsuit alleges Turner's foot went into a pothole. Turner's right ankle twisted and she heard "a loud popping noise," according to the complaint statement.
   The lawsuit states that the pothole was not "visible nor anticipated ... causing the plaintiff to fall and injure her right ankle."
   Turner's complaint reads that she sustained a fracture to the right fifth metatarsal of her right foot and other bruises and contusions. According to the lawsuit statement, she incurred over $2,200 in medical expenses for treatment of her injuries.