Liquid-Plumr Burns Rt. 59 Home Depot Customer's Eyes: Suit

SHOREWOOD, IL — A Naperville law firm has filed a civil lawsuit against Home Depot and the Clorox Company, claiming that a bottle of Liquid-Plumr fell from a shelf in late April, bounced off the concrete floor and splashed a customer from Shorewood in his eyes. Jonathan Carpenter's Will County civil lawsuit accuses Home Depot of negligence.

At the time of Carpenter's mishap on April 28, the lawsuit states, Home Depot's eye wash station was inaccessible to customers because it was blocked by several items of merchandise.

Carpenter was shopping at the Route 59 Home Depot, which displayed several bottles of Liquid-Plumr about five feet high on a shelf in aisle 34, the lawsuit advises.

The plaintiff's lawyer, John J. Malm & Associates, argues the Shorewood Home Depot "did not contain any safeguards, fences or walls to prevent bottles of Liquid-Plumr from falling to the ground at the retail store at 621 Brook Forest Avenue ... the subject retail shelf did not contain any mats or anti-slip materials to prevent bottles of Liquid-Plumr from falling to the ground at the retail store."

The Liquid-Plumr bottles contained dangerous chemicals such as sodium hydrochlorite, sodium hydroxide and alkylamine oxides. The label on the bottles contained the following message: "First Aid: Eyes - Flush immediately with water for 15 minutes," the Naperville law firm stated.

However, on April 28, "the eye wash station located in the customer section of The Home Depot retail store was inaccessible because it was blocked by various products including lawn care products," Carpenter's lawsuit explains.

The Clorox Company was named as a co-defendant because it manufactures and distributes the Liquid-Plumr product.

"On or about April 28, 2019, Plaintiff reached for a bottle of Zep, and a bottle of Liquid-Plumr fell to the concrete floor with the bottom of the Liquid-Plumr bottle striking the ground ... the cap of the Liquid-Plumr bottle suddenly failed and the contents of Liquid-Plumr were discharged from the inside of the Liquid-Plumr bottle," Malm & Associates contends.

At that point, the Liquid-Plumr chemicals "splashed Plaintiff in his eyes, resulting in burns to both eyes," the lawsuit alleges. The negligence lawsuit advises Will County's judges that Carpenter "was unable to use the eye wash station in the customer section of the retail store and therefore was prevented from immediately rinsing his eyes."

The lawsuit accuses Home Depot of failing to use reasonable care in the ownership, operation and control of its retail store "and the aforesaid Liquid-Plumr product located therein."

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in downtown Joliet. Lawyers for Home Depot and The Clorox Company have yet to file any legal briefs in response to the allegations raised by the man from Shorewood.