Sam’s Club May Be Liable for Accident by Staff Loading Pickup

A Georgia statute establishing a duty to load a vehicle securely extends to those who assist a driver with the loading, the state top court said Tuesday, ensnaring Sam’s East Inc. in a personal injury suit over an auto accident.

But ordinary negligence principles apply, the Georgia Supreme Court said in answering a question from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.

So injured motorist Amanda McEntyre must still show that two Sam’s Club workers breached their duty when they loaded two bed springs and two mattresses onto another driver’s pickup truck bed, Justice Charles J. Bethel ...