A STICKY PROBLEM

Man sues Home Depot after using glue-covered bathroom toilet

Thursday November 03, 2005

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) Home Depot is defending a lawsuit filed by a man who claims the chain's Louisville store ignored his cries for help after he fell victim to a prank and was glued to a toilet seat.

Bob Dougherty, 57, of Nederland, said he became stuck to a bathroom toilet seat last year after somebody smeared glue on it.

``They left me there, going through all that stress,'' Dougherty told The (Boulder) Daily Camera. ``They just let me rot.''

His lawsuit, filed Friday, said Dougherty was recovering from heart bypass surgery at the time and thought he was having a heart attack. A store employee who heard him calling for help informed the head clerk via radio, but the head clerk ``believed it to be a hoax,'' the lawsuit said.

Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said she could not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit said after about 15 minutes, store officials called for an ambulance. Paramedics unbolted the toilet seat, and while wheeling a ``frightened and humiliated'' Dougherty out of the store, he passed out.

The lawsuit said the toilet seat separated from his skin, leaving abrasions.

``This is not Home Depot's fault,'' he said. ``But I am blaming them for letting me hang in there and just ignoring me.''