Giant Eagle Escapes Liability for Scooter Driver’s Negligence

What happens if you’re in a grocery store, and you’re struck by someone driving one of those motorized scooter shopping carts the stores make available for customers, and you’re injured? The Ohio Supreme Court recently told us you won’t be able to recover from the grocery store for your injuries.

Giant Eagle was sued by Barbara Rieger after she was hit by Ruth Kurka. Rieger was standing in line for baked goods, and Kurka was driving one of those motorized scooter shopping carts. Based on her injuries, the jury awarded Reiger over $360,000, finding Giant Eagle liable because it makes the scooters available to anyone, without evaluating a customer’s ability to safely use one and without providing any instruction. The Ohio Supreme Court overturned the verdict.

The court held that Reiger had failed to establish causation. That is, no evidence was presented as to how Giant Eagle’s failure to provide training had contributed to the collision. What may have been significant for the court was that Kurka had safely used the scooters for over a year.

[Reiger v. Giant Eagle, 2019-Ohio-3745, decided Sept. 19, 2019.]