Jeffrey Raasch (Atlanta, GA) (Premises Liability) obtained Summary Judgment in a Premises Liability case. The Plaintiff filed this case to recover for a broken ankle and other injuries she received when eating at an Olive Garden restaurant near Atlanta on August 14, 2018. When the Plaintiff was sliding out of the booth where she and her family had just finished eating, the Plaintiff said the top portion of the bench on which she had been sitting had stuck to her buttocks for some unknown reason. As she stood up, the bench continued sticking to her rear-end through her pants, but then it suddenly came loose, supposedly ejecting her from the booth. She then said the bench top fell between her feet and tripped her as she was in the process of getting up from the table.
However, the Plaintiff testified in her deposition that not only had her family eaten at the booth without incident, but she remembered looking at the bench before she sat on it and “everything was 100% copacetic” with it. The manager gave an Affidavit saying that his restaurant never had a problem like this with any of their benches before and they were inspected every morning before the restaurant opened. The Court granted the Summary Judgment based on all of these factors. No appeal was filed.
The Plaintiff’s attorney had demanded a settlement in the mid-six figures pre-suit and said that due to complications from the broken ankle, the Plaintiff would need to have her home and car modified to assist her getting around. He also said he was going to probably double or triple the demand (to an amount closer to seven figures once he had a “life-planning expert” determine how much money she would need to “get around the rest of her life.” Dekalb County, GA is one of the most liberal jurisdictions in the State of GA and its juries have a long track record of awarding extremely large verdicts.