Cop Says Poorly Made Shoes Spoiled Big Day

MANHATTAN (CN) - A Village of Ardsley police lieutenant claims in a lawsuit that his commendation for a major drug bust was literally undone when the shoes he was wearing fell apart, causing him to sustain career-ending injuries.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Federal Court, John Sheeley says the negligence of defendant Wolverine World Wide Inc. in manufacturing the Bates brand shoes he was wearing caused him to tear his meniscus and seriously injure his back.

At the time that "the heel and soles of the Bates shoes literally and incredibly disintegrated and fell apart," he was walking to the awards ceremony at the Westchester County Center and preparing to be honored before family and colleagues.

Instead, his injuries required medical treatment, and he is scheduled to undergo a surgery in coming months that will force him to retire from the suburban New York police force.

Wolverine Worldwide has had problems with its Bates line of shoes and boots before, according to published reports.

In 2011, roughly 8,000 military all-terrain boots provided to the U.S. Marine Corp. were recalled by the after the stitching on a number of them came apart. Marine representatives at the time had blamed the manufacturing of those boots, not the design, for the problem.

Sheeley is seeking unspecified damages.

He is represented by Mitchell Baker of Baker, Leshko, Saline & Blosser in White Plains, N.Y.

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