Problems with a Tulsa business' liability insurance

They say its bad luck to break a mirror, even worse when a 75-pound mirror falls on your head. <br><br>That's what a Coweta woman says happened to her at Tulsa's Garden Ridge store. It sent her

Friday, April 23rd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

They say its bad luck to break a mirror, even worse when a 75-pound mirror falls on your head.

That's what a Coweta woman says happened to her at Tulsa's Garden Ridge store. It sent her to the emergency room. Now, as News on 6 reporter Steve Berg tells us, the store's insurance company isn't sure if it can pay for her bills.

Faye Holt says she was shopping for mirrors at Garden Ridge on Tuesday, and while she was looking at one close to floor level, another mirror hanging 6 feet up fell and struck her in the head. "A shadow came because I had my head down like this and a shadow came and I heard or I felt, bam."

Faye says she was in and out of consciousness and says she was lucky that a nearby shopper was also a nurse. "I raised my hand and I remember saying, what's this and she said, its blood."

Faye says the nurse's son lifted the mirror off her head and guessed it weighed about 75 pounds. It took four staples to close the wound in Faye's scalp. Not long after they got home from the hospital, Faye's husband Chester says he called Garden Ridge's insurance company. "He said, well I got bad news for you, it doesn't look like you're gonna get paid."

Garden Ridge is in bankruptcy and Chester says he was told that the company has to get approval from the bankruptcy court to pay its insurance deductible.

We talked to the manager of Garden Ridge who says they still haven't figured out what caused the mirror to come loose from the wall. As for the insurance, we talked to the same administrator the Holts did, and he confirmed the money that Garden Ridge uses to pay its deductibles is tied up in bankruptcy court.

"I said, what are we talking about, 6 months to a year, and he said, I have no idea." Chester has a good job with good benefits, so he says they'll be fine, but he says it's the principle of the matter that bothers him and whether someone else would have been as fortunate.

"It could have been some guy working at McDonald's making $5 or $6 an hour with no insurance really."