A woman who sued Menards after she said a pallet fell on her has offered no proof the home improvement giant was negligent, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

Kathleen Thomas of Milwaukee sued Menards in 2005. She claimed a pallet fell on her head and shoulder while she and her family were gathering landscaping rock in a Menards self-service yard in 2002.

The appeals court case does not say which Menards Thomas had visited.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Patricia McMahon granted summary judgment -- a request for a judge to settle a case without a jury -- in favor of Menards and its insurance company in August.

The 1st District Court of Appeals upheld her decision Tuesday, saying Thomas offered no evidence or testimony that Menards was negligent _ not even after she had been served with the company's request for summary judgment.

Thomas had invoked a doctrine in which a judge or juror can infer negligence based only on the occurrence of an event. However, the doctrine required her to show the pallet was under Menards' exclusive control.

The appeals court said Thomas failed to show evidence of that. In fact, she and her son acknowledged other customers could have left the pallet in a spot where it could fall.

Menards has more than 220 stores in 11 states and more than 40 in Wisconsin.