Man Sues Home Depot After He Was Stuck On Toilet Seat

Bob Dougherty

Hardware retailer Home Depot has found itself in a sticky situation, defending a lawsuit filed by a man who said the chain’s Louisville, Colo., 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, Colo., said he became stuck to a bathroom toilet seat on which somebody had smeared glue on Oct. 30, 2003 and felt ‘‘tremendous panic’’ when he realized he was stuck.‘‘They left me there, going through all that stress,’’ Dougherty told the (Boulder) Daily Camera newspaper.‘‘They just let me rot.’’

Toilet Seat Guy May Have Made Similar Claims

A man suing The Home Depot over a toilet seat allegedly covered with glue is being identified as the same man who made a similar allegation more than a year ago, about a toilet in his own hometown. But the man's lawyer is denying he ever made such a claim.

Fifty-seven-year-old Bob Dougherty (DOHR'-uh-tee) filed a three-(m)-million-dollar lawsuit against the world's largest home improvement chain last month. The suit alleges he suffered pain, humiliation and financial loss when workers at a local store ignored his cries for help.

Nederland's former director of operations, Ron Trzepacz (TREE'-pak), tells the Rocky Mountain News that Dougherty came to him with a similar report in the summer of 2004 -- but that the man had pulled himself free from the toilet at a visitors' center.

Update 11/12/2005:Man Claiming To Be Glued To Toilet Seat, Passes Lie Detector Test

The man suing Home Depot for a prank plans to move forward with his case after passing a polygraph test about the incident.

Bob Dougherty, 57, alleges he got stuck to a toilet seat in the restroom at Home Depot's Louisville store. He said he was in a hurry to use the bathroom and sat down after finding there were no paper seat covers left. He said his legs and buttocks got stuck to the seat and employees ignored his pleas for help.

Dougherty's suit seeks $3 million, claiming he suffered pain, humiliation and financial loss.