Walmart Ordered To Pay HV Man $1.6M Over In-Store Bike Crash

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Walmart Stores East LP has been ordered to pay $1.6 million to a Rockland County man over injuries he sustained while testing a bike in the Suffern store in 2016.

On August 6, a U.S. District Court jury in White Plains awarded a $3.1 million verdict to Cosmo Campodonico, of South Nyack. The amount was eventually reduced when it was determined that Campodonico was 51 percent liable for the bike accident, while Walmart was 49 percent liable.

On September 13, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause issued a $1.6 million judgement against Walmart Stores East LP, the operator of the Walmart store in Suffern. The total took into account past damages of pain and suffering, medical expenses, future pain and suffering, legal fees, and interest for the 39 days after the verdict.

Walmart was directed to use approximately $634,000 of the judgement to purchase a 10-year insurance annuity to pay Campodonico around $61,000 annually with 4 percent increases every year.

Campodonico was injured on August 23, 2016, after he was allowed to test-drive a bicycle in the Suffern Walmart's garden center. The brakes on the bike failed when he was about to make a turn and he crashed into a row of bikes on display, injuring his right shoulder when he fell.

He accused Walmart of being "reckless, careless and negligent" in his July 2018 lawsuit filed in NYS Supreme Court in Rockland County, claiming he was injured due to the "dangerous, defective, hazardous and unsafe condition" of the bike he was testing.

Walmart requested in September of 2018 that the case be moved from NYS Supreme Court in Rockland County to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Walmart had one of their bike assemblers testify that "the bicycles came to Walmart with the brakes already assembled" which the company claimed was "evidence which arguably establishes that Walmart did not create the condition." The company claimed that Campodonico "was guilty of culpable conduct, including contributory negligence and/or assumption of risk," and that his injury was due to a a pre-existing condition.

According to court documents, Campodonico required several surgeries after the incident, including the removal of part of his collarbone. He has suffered many dislocations since and his right shoulder was replaced, after which it became infected, requiring IV antibiotics in the hospital for over a month. Campodonico reportedly still has issues using his right arm and shoulder which he claims has caused him great emotional and psychological distress.