Wal-Mart to Pay $8 Million in Accident Case

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must pay $8 million to a Texas couple injured in a car accident caused by a Wal-Mart mechanic’s failure to properly tighten a car wheel’s lug nuts, lawyers for the couple said. Jurors in federal court in Lufkin, Texas, deliberated about four hours before handing up the award to Paul and Julie Neill on their claims that Wal-Mart mechanics routinely falsified records showing they double-checked the tightness of wheel lug nuts on cars being repaired. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said it plans to appeal the jury’s decision. Paul Neill was driving in Longview, Texas, on Jan. 10, 1997, when a tire off a Ford Bronco crashed through his car window, causing severe neck injuries and leaving him disabled, an attorney for the Neills said. Mechanics at the Longview Wal-Mart had worked on the Bronco three days before but failed to properly tighten the sport-utility vehicle’s lug nuts.