San Antonio man sues H-E-B after cashier allegedly whacked him with cucumber

A San Antonio man alleges an H-E-B cashier hit him with an English cucumber after he questioned whether she had scanned the item twice during checkout. He seeks at least $200,000 and as much as $1 million in damages from the chain. less A San Antonio man alleges an H-E-B cashier hit him with an English cucumber after he questioned whether she had scanned the item twice during checkout. He seeks at least $200,000 and as much as $1 million in ... more Photo: Tom Reel /Staff File Photo Photo: Tom Reel /Staff File Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Antonio man sues H-E-B after cashier allegedly whacked him with cucumber 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

H-E-B, like all large retailers, routinely faces personal injury lawsuits — typically the slip-and-fall kind.

An action recently filed against the grocery chain is far from a garden-variety negligence claim, however.

San Antonio resident Joe Albert Lopez sued H-E-B, alleging a cashier struck him with an English cucumber after he asked if she had scanned the item twice while he was in the checkout lane. (An English cucumber is longer and sweeter than a regular cucumber.)

According to the lawsuit, the clerk “grabbed the cucumber and wacked (sic) (Lopez’s) right hand with it. She did so with great force. The cucumber (which is covered in plastic shrink wrap) ruptured and pieces flew all over the place.”

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Lopez felt a “pop” in the area of his “AV (arteriovenous) fistula,” described as a surgically created connection of an artery to a vein that provides good blood flow for dialysis. The lawsuit doesn’t offer any specifics on the nature of Lopez’s alleged injuries and his lawyer, W. Lee Parsons, declined to share any details.

The “cashier insisted it was (Lopez’s) ‘fault’ for questioning her about properly scanning the groceries,” the suit continued.

H-E-B spokeswoman Dya Campos had little to say about the lawsuit.

“We are still looking into this matter and will give it our full attention,” she said in an email.

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Lopez seeks damages in the range of $200,000 to $1 million for health care expenses, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of earnings.

The incident is alleged to have occurred Nov. 27, 2017, at the H-E-B plus near Loop 1604 and Bandera Road. The suit was filed Friday in state District Court, just days ahead of a deadline for bringing such a legal action.

Parsons, with the law firm Wayne Wright LLP, said he and his client are working with H-E-B to resolve the case. He expects the litigation will be put on hold while they attempt to settle it.

“H-E-B is a fine company company and in my experience with them over the years they consistently act responsibly and accept responsibility when there is evidence that they have liability for a particular injury,” Parsons said in an email. “Even when they do not see eye-to-eye with me about a case, they are always respectful and kind. They have shown genuine concern for my clients that happened to be injured on their property or by the negligence of one of their employees.”

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPD