Home Depot Sued in Massachusetts by Edward McLaughlin After Mulch-Area Fall

Edward McLaughlin filed a personal-injury complaint on Feb. 26, 2026 in Massachusetts Superior Court, Essex County, recorded as docket 2677CV00250, alleging that "negligently stored and displayed lumber at a home improvement store struck and seriously injured a customer, resulting in permanent injuries, ongoing medical expenses and diminished ability to perform daily activities."

The McLaughlin complaint names Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. and HD Salem-gp, LLC as defendants and lists Sullivan and Sullivan, LLP as plaintiff counsel. The docket classifies the case under torts - other negligence - personal injury / property damage and checks boxes for Personal Injury Claims and Property & Premises Liability Claims.

The filing on Feb. 26, 2026 appears to conflict with a separate report that same day referencing a Barnstable County Superior Court complaint by a plaintiff named David Pike alleging negligent maintenance of the store’s mulch sales area led to a fall. That report did not include a docket number and the text available is truncated, so court records presently show two inconsistent accounts on the same filing date—one alleging a struck-by-lumber injury in Essex County, the other alleging a mulch-area fall in Barnstable County.

The McLaughlin docket does not identify the specific Home Depot store location where the incident allegedly occurred, and no defendant response or scheduled hearings appear on the initial public entry. Sullivan and Sullivan, LLP is listed as counsel for McLaughlin; the docket entry provides the complaint summary but not medical records or witness statements beyond the description of permanent injuries and ongoing medical expenses.

Legal-tracking sites cited in related materials document a history of high-dollar and varied personal-injury claims involving Home Depot. Millerandzois lists a $66,000 verdict in Massachusetts in 2021 for a hand laceration caused by a protruding security plate, and a $425,000 Massachusetts settlement in 2012 after a ladder rung detached. Millerandzois also records an $809,241 Tennessee verdict in 2012 involving an allegedly negligent Home Depot driver. Accidentlawyerhenderson highlights a 2017 Oregon jury award of $4,527,799 later reduced to about $1.9 million in a case involving a ladder manufacturer and Home Depot.

Consumer-safety materials from Earley Law Group enumerate common claim types against Home Depot - slip-and-fall accidents, falling objects, merchandise placement injuries and parking-lot falls - and note roughly 2,200 Home Depot locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico, underscoring how a single-store incident can have chainwide precedents.

As filed, the McLaughlin complaint joins other recorded suits against Home Depot but leaves key details unresolved: the exact store, the relationship between the McLaughlin and Pike reports, and any corporate response from Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. or HD Salem-gp, LLC. Court dockets and the complaint PDF will be needed to confirm facts and to track whether the filings represent one case, two separate suits, or reporting discrepancies.