Wal-Mart Loses Appeal in Tire Accident Case

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s No. 1 retailer, must pay $1 million to a former Virginia middle school principal hurt when a newly installed tire fell off a moving vehicle in 1995, an appeals panel ruled. Zed French III suffered serious back injuries in a crash on Interstate 64 six days after new tires were installed on a friend’s Jeep at a Wal-Mart Sam’s Club store in Charlottesville, Va., according to an opinion by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. The left front wheel came off in the accident, the court said. French filed a federal lawsuit alleging negligence against Wal-Mart. After a three-day trial in 1998, a jury awarded him $1 million plus interest. Wal-Mart appealed, saying the award was excessive, but the appeals panel disagreed. Shares of the Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, which reported sales of $137.6 billion for fiscal 1999, rose 81 cents to close at $48.38 on the NYSE.