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Thursday, April 25, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Woman to get $7.5 million for accident at Sears repair shop

A Las Vegas woman who was badly injured when an auto mechanic accidentally dropped a vehicle hood on her arm was awarded $7.5 million in damages Wednesday by a Clark County jury.

Peggy Lopez was permanently disabled by the accident at the Sears, Roebuck and Co. repair shop at the Boulevard Mall. Lopez's husband, Daniel, also is disabled from an unrelated accident, meaning the accident left the couple without any source of income.

"I can finally take care of my wife," Daniel Lopez said moments after the verdict was issued in the courtroom of District Judge Michael Cherry.

"If it wasn't for my attorneys, we probably would have ended up out on the streets."

The couple's attorneys, Robert Eglet and Randall Mainor of the Mainor & Harris law firm, said that in total, the verdict against Sears will add up to about $9 million. This figure includes expected interest on the verdict and another $212,560 that the jury awarded to Daniel Lopez for his suffering.

"The result was just," Eglet said outside court.

"The impact of this has been nothing short of devastating."

Richard Gering, a Chicago-based attorney who defended Sears against the couple's lawsuit, referred comment to the company's corporate headquarters in Chicago. The headquarters was closed by the time the verdict was announced.

Courtroom observers said attorneys for Sears had argued that an earlier injury suffered by Peggy Lopez was the real cause of her disability.

According to Eglet and Mainor, Peggy Lopez went to the Sears auto shop on June 15, 1997, because she was having problems with the battery on her 1986 Cherokee. A mechanic there lifted the hood but did not use the hood prop on the vehicle to keep the hood raised.

"She recommended he put it up, and he said, 'Don't worry about it,' " Mainor said.

The hood subsequently fell and smashed Peggy Lopez's arm. Peggy Lopez, who was the sole provider for the couple, ended up enduring nine surgical procedures on her wrist, arm and back. As a result of the accident, she was declared permanently disabled and has been unable to work.

Cherry previously had issued a summary judgment determining that Sears was liable, and during a 2 1/2-week trial to determine damages in the case, several doctors testified that Peggy Lopez's injuries were extremely severe.