Maine woman claims mother's 2022 fall at Brewer Walmart led to her death
BANGOR (BDN) -- The daughter of a Clifton woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Walmart in Brewer alleging that injuries Thelma Treadwell suffered from a fall on Feb. 24, 2022, caused her death a month later.
Sheila Treadwell, 54, of Clifton is seeking unspecified damages for her mother’s pain and suffering, medical bills, funeral expenses, emotional distress and loss of comfort and companionship. She is also seeking punitive damages.
Thelma Treadwell died March 24, 2022, at the age of 88.
She and her daughter were leaving the Brewer Walmart about 13 months ago when Treadwell tripped and fell over a mat, breaking her femur, according to Portland lawyer Peter Clifford, who filed the lawsuit on St. Patrick’s Day in Penobscot County Superior Court.
The fall allegedly exacerbated the elder Treadwell’s heart problems and contributed to her death a short time later.
Thelma Treadwell’s tripping and falling was captured on the store’s security system, according to Clifford.
The all-weather mat was placed over the all-weather floor surface that was ripped, he said. That created a hazard for customers.
“An all-weather mat should not have been used over the ripped surface,” Clifford said Tuesday. “It created a trip hazard because there was a danger it would migrate to where it was not supposed to be, as it did in this case.”
A corporate spokesperson for Walmart, whose headquarters are in Bentonville, Arkansas, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
“Thelma will be remembered for her love for her family, animals, camping, gardening, more recently, she loved working in her daughter’s new kitchen and some of the best parties Clifton ever experienced,” her obituary said.
Family members planned to hold a barbecue in her honor last summer.
