A California woman is suing Costco for more than $14 million after she said a liquor cabinet fell on her, leaving her with serious injuries that include a traumatic brain injury.
Sadie Novotny was shopping at a Santa Rosa store in March when a liquor cabinet fell on her, according to a federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California on June 5.
Novotny said that she and her husband were buying a cabinet when the floor model fell on top of her.
“I caught the cabinet and pushed it back,” it states. “My right shoulder, forearm, hand, fingers and lower back hurt after the accident,” she wrote in a Costco incident report included in the lawsuit.
The suit says that the cabinet had thin legs and was placed on a worn wooden pallet. It fell “suddenly and without warning” on Novotny, leaving her with “multiple, permanent, and severe injuries,” including a head injury and traumatic brain injury.
It says that Costco should have known there was an unreasonable risk of harm.
The lawsuit was initially filed in April in the California Superior Court for Alameda County, but was moved to the U.S. District Court for Northern California. She is seeking $14,110,000.
Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
