PREMISES LIABILITY

COLUMBIA CIRCUIT COURT

A jury awarded $3.14 million to a woman who fell in a tiled hallway at a franchise restaurant.

Gail Hartman and her church group stopped at a Zaxby's restaurant on U.S. Highway 90 in Lake City on Aug. 16, 2016. Hartman claimed she slipped on the hallway floor leading to the bathroom and injured her back. Her counsel blamed a totality of circumstances and negligent behavior: ice falling out of the ice maker and employees tracking grease into the hall after working in the kitchen.

The jury found Zaxby's was negligent and its negligence was a legal cause of Hartman's injury. The jury attributed no liability to Hartman.

Case: Hartman v. Chicken Foot Development

Case No.: 17-000172-CA

Plaintiffs attorneys: Bill Kempner, Tallahassee, and Brian K. McClain, Orlando, Morgan & Morgan

Defense attorneys: Edward M. Booth Jr. and Courtney Johnson, Boyd & Jenerette, Jacksonville