D.C. Jury Awards $2 Million to Hechinger Customer Assaulted by a Store Employee, Affirmed on Appeal

On February 12, 1994, James W. Johnson drove to a Hechinger hardware store in Langley Park, Maryland to buy lumber. Johnson, a practicing attorney since 1975, got into a dispute with a store employee over wood scraps. The employee struck him. Johnson fell and hit his head, and he was taken to a hospital.

A CAT scan revealed a subdural hematoma on the left side of his head, an accumulation of blood between his brain and the membrane that covers it. A neurosurgeon performed an emergency craniotomy, cutting a piece from Johnson's skull, opening the membrane over his brain, draining fluid, and removing clotted blood. A treating physician tied the head trauma at the store directly to the injury.

The damage to the left hemisphere of Johnson's brain, the region that governs speech, memory, writing, and mathematical and mechanical skills, did not heal. His IQ dropped from more than 130 to 109. He tested in the impaired range for speech-sound perception, memory, and verbal learning. He developed severe headaches and incontinence, along with depression, anxiety, and insomnia. After more than two decades in practice, he lost confidence in his ability to work as a lawyer.

At trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the central fight was legal as much as medical. Hechinger argued it should not have to answer for an employee who attacked a customer. Johnson's case established that the assault happened within the scope of the worker's employment, which made the company liable for what its employee did on the job. A neurologist and a neurosurgeon connected the blow at the store to the bleeding in his skull, and psychological testing showed the lasting cognitive loss. The jury agreed on liability and on damages, and returned a verdict of $2 million.

Hechinger appealed, challenging both the liability finding and the size of the award. Koonz McKenney Johnson & DePaolis attorneys Marc Fiedler and William Lightfoot represented Johnson on the appeal, with Fiedler arguing the case and Lightfoot on the brief. On October 26, 2000, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, holding that there was no error requiring reversal and that the evidence supported the verdict. The opinion is reported at Hechinger Co. v. Johnson, 761 A.2d 15. The full $2 million stood, with no remittitur or reduction.