Home Depot Moves Santa Cruz Personal Injury Case to Federal Court

A personal-injury lawsuit filed last fall in Santa Cruz County Superior Court is now a federal case, after Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. moved it to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 4, 2026.

The underlying suit, Armando Fernandez v. Home Depot, U.S.A., Inc., was originally filed September 17, 2025 under state court case number 25CV02962. According to the state-court record, Fernandez alleges that negligent maintenance of both the store's flooring and its shopping cart equipment caused him injury when a cart handle detached as he tried to free a wheel stuck in a floor defect. The claims are categorized as personal injury and property and premises liability.

Home Depot's attorney, Zachary S. Tolson of Goodman Neuman Hamilton LLP, filed the Notice of Removal along with a Corporate Disclosure Statement and Certificate of Interested Entities on the same day, paying a $405 filing fee, receipt number ACANDC-21715908. Both the disclosure statement and the certificate identify The Home Depot, Inc. as the corporate parent of Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. Plaintiff's counsel in the state court proceeding is Ryan T. O'Connell.

The federal docket, listed as Fernandez v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc., carries the removal under 28 U.S.C. Section 1441, the federal statute governing removal of civil actions from state court. The specific jurisdictional basis Home Depot asserted in its petition has not been confirmed from the full text of the notice. Tolson filed a Certificate of Service on March 6.

The Northern District moved quickly on scheduling. A court-issued Initial Case Management Scheduling Order, entered March 5, sets a Case Management Statement deadline of May 26, 2026 and schedules an Initial Case Management Conference for June 2, 2026 at 1:30 p.m., to be held by videoconference through the San Jose division.

No damages figure appears in the available court records, and the specific Home Depot store location where the alleged incident occurred has not been identified in public filings.