Indiana Woman Awarded $510K for Injury Outside Wal-Mart Store

A northern Indiana jury has awarded more than a half-million dollars to a woman who was injured when she stepped into a hole outside a Wal-Mart store.

The (Munster) Times reports the Porter County jury awarded 29-year-old Micela Earle of Hobart $510,000 for her injuries.

That was far short of the $5 million she had sought.

Earle’s civil suit alleged Wal-Mart was negligent in removing a tree along a sidewalk outside its Portage store, leaving behind a hole that she stepped in and injured herself in December 2012.

Her attorney, Gregory Sarkisian, says Earle faces a lifetime of pain-related suffering, limitations and treatments from the injury.

Wal-Mart attorney James Balog argued a doctor hired by the store doesn’t believe Earle suffered more than a sprained ankle.