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Fred Meyer is facing a lawsuit seeking up to $250,000 for a woman who claims she slipped and fell on a crack in the Tigard store's floors.

(File photo/The Oregonian)

A woman who was shopping at Fred Meyer has filed a $250,000 lawsuit, claiming that the grocery store is liable for her fractured spine because a checkout clerk told her she wouldn't lose her place in line if she dashed back to the cheese section and retrieved an item she wanted to add to her cart.

The lawsuit, filed by Rebecca Loprinzi, claims that the clerk told her to "just go fast." Loprinzi did just that -- and ended up slipping on a crack in the polished concrete floor, fracturing her spine, according to the suit filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Loprinzi's suit faults the floor as dangerous and Fred Meyer training policies as lacking. According to the lawsuit, Fred Meyer should have trained its employees never to instruct customers to hurry -- or tell customers to retrieve items themselves once they're in the checkout line.

A Fred Meyer spokeswoman declined comment on Tuesday, saying that the company doesn't talk about pending litigation.

According to Loprinzi's suit:

On May 9, 2013, 55-year-old Loprinzi was shopping with her two children, ages 3 and 7, at the Tigard Fred Meyer at 11165 S.W. Pacific Highway. She wanted to use a coupon she had to buy some cheese, but she couldn't find the cheese section.

Loprinzi normally shops at the Fred Meyer nearest her Sandy home and wasn't familiar with the Tigard store. So when she got to the checkout line, she asked the cashier if an employee could retrieve the cheese for her, the suit states.

Instead, the cashier told her the cheese section was on the back wall of the store and told her to "just go fast" and get the cheese herself, according to the suit. The cashier offered to watch Loprinzi's 3-year-old, who was sitting in the grocery cart, the suit states.

"(Loprinzi) hurried, with her older child, through the store, and while returning from retrieving the cheese, she tripped and slipped on the floor near or on one of the cracks on the polished concrete flooring, with her feet slipping out from under her and her body slamming back down into the ground, impacting her wrist, back, shoulder and head," according to the suit.

The suit states that Fred Meyer and the general and subcontractors that prepared and polished the floor are "substantially responsible" for failing "to provide a reasonably safe shopping area for Fred Meyer's customers." Neither contractor -- S.D. Deacon Corp. of Oregon or QuestMark Corporation -- could be reached for comment Tuesday.

The suit also claims that Fred Meyer should have trained its employees to "warn customers of the hazards of the slippery and cracked floor."

Loprinzi's suit states that the fall fractured her thoracic spine; caused blurred vision, dizziness, and faintness; flared up her existing fibromyalgia; made her head ache for three days; and caused bruising, swelling and aches through much of her body. She has had to go to physical therapy and take medicine for the pain and inflammation, according to the suit.

The up to $250,000 she is seeking is to cover an unspecified amount of medical bills, as well as her pain and suffering.

The suit was filed by Lake Oswego attorney Arusi Loprinzi. It's unclear if or how he's related to Rebecca Loprinzi. He could not be reached for comment.

Fred Meyer, which got its start in Portland and operates in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska, is a unit of The Kroger Co. The Cincinnati-based operator of QFC, Food 4 Less and other brands in 34 states has a market value of $35 billion.

Read the lawsuit here.

-- Aimee Green

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