Judge and gavel

PREMISES LIABILITY

LEON CIRCUIT COURT

A homemaker won a jury award of more than $1.9 million for injuries she blamed on a fall at a small Tallahassee grocery store.

Stephanie Jenkins, then 47, visited the USA Grocers store on Roberts Avenue in Tallahassee on Dec. 4, 2016. She contended she slipped and fell on water that leaked from an ice bin placed near the store's main counter. She claimed she suffered injuries to her back, neck, shoulder and wrist. She underwent three surgeries, including fusion of a portion of her spine's lumbosacral region.

The defense argued Jenkins could have avoided the water, but the jury found otherwise. It awarded Jenkins $1.93 million.

Case: Jenkins v. Siraji

Case No.: 37 2017 CA 002309

Plaintiffs attorneys: James G. Biggart II and Craig Richards, Tallahassee, and Brian K. McClain, Orlando, Morgan & Morgan

Defense attorney: Paul Buschmann, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Fort Lauderdale