Lewis sues Lowe’s

New Iberia City Councilman Raymond “Shoe-Do” Lewis has filed a lawsuit against the local Lowe’s Home Centers and an unidentified employee named “John Doe,” who he alleges caused “severe and disabling injuries” to Lewis after the councilman was “exposed to fumes and odors” at the store in February.

Lewis’ lawyer, Roger Hamilton — who is also an assistant district attorney — filed the lawsuit Feb. 7, nearly a year after the incident. Lowe’s is not settling the case, he said, so it will go forward.

The incident occurred Feb. 8, 2006.

“While shopping in the Lowe’s of New Iberia, Raymond Lewis was exposed to fumes and odors and suffered severe and disabling injuries,” the lawsuit states. “The resulting injury and damages were caused solely by the fault and negligence of Lowe’s Home Centers.”

Lewis said he had asthma, a condition further aggravated by the employee’s reported use of chemicals at the store.

Lowe’s was negligent, because the store and its employee failed to use reasonable care to keep the air and floors in a clean and safe condition, to keep the premises free of hazardous conditions, to properly inspect the premises and to establish proper procedures for cleaning and inspection, the lawsuit states.

The store also was at fault, the lawsuit states, for “allowing a foreign and dangerous substance to remain in the air of the store, creating an unreasonable and foreseeable risk and hazard of injury to plaintiff (Lewis).”

Since the incident, Lewis has “suffered pain, disability, medical expenses and impairment of earning capacity and will continue to suffer such losses in the future.”

Lewis is seeking “an amount reasonable for the injuries, together with legal interest from the date of judicial demand and for all costs incurred.”

Attorneys for Lowe’s could not be reached for comment.