Latest jury verdicts, settlements, and legal outcome analysis
Nora Garcia won a $3,773,873 jury verdict after a Los Angeles County jury found PCL Construction Services, Inc. negligent. The case arose from a 2024 trip and fall at Orange High School in Orange, California. Jurors assigned PCL 65% of the responsibility for her harm.
A Florida federal jury found Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. negligent after a passenger suffered severe second-degree burns to both feet during a poolside contest aboard the Grandeur of the Seas. The jury awarded the passenger $1,670,000 in total compensatory damages, apportioning 60 percent fault to the cruise line and 40 percent to the passenger.
A Pennsylvania jury awarded $275,000 to a bar patron who was taken to the ground by security staff outside a Pittsburgh restaurant and saloon after closing hours. The Plaintiff alleged that security guards used excessive force against him after he had already left the premises and posed no threat, while the bar argued its staff acted reasonably to break up a fight. The jury found the bar negligent and, despite also finding the Plaintiff negligent, determined his conduct did not factually contribute to his own injuries, allowing him to recover the full award without any reduction for comparative fault.
A customer accused of shoplifting at a Sacramento supermarket sued after security guards allegedly slammed her to the ground and kicked her during a detention, leaving her unable to stand. She brought claims for negligence, negligent hiring, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After a week-long trial, the jury found the security guard was not the store's agent, was not negligent, and that the outside security company's services did not involve a special risk of harm — resulting in a defense verdict and judgment for the supermarket.
A jury in Allen Superior Court found Panera, LLC fully responsible for a customer's slip-and-fall injury on an icy restaurant walkway, awarding $987,000 in damages. The case centered on whether the restaurant failed to address a known hazard that endangered visiting customers, with a snow removal contractor also named in the litigation before the matter proceeded to trial against Panera alone.
Taylor Wilson sued Olive Cleveland Partners, LLC after she slipped and fell on snow and ice in a warehouse parking lot in South Bend, Indiana. The jury assigned 45% fault to Wilson, 45% to Olive Cleveland Partners, and 10% to non-party snow removal contractor Pemberton, LLC. The jury determined total damages and entered a verdict in Wilson's favor against Olive Cleveland Partners, LLC.
A California jury found entirely in favor of the defense in a lawsuit brought by an Oklahoma woman who suffered severe facial injuries after tripping over a raised door threshold at a Barstow hotel. The Plaintiff, who used a cane, argued that the 1.25-inch, unbeveled metal threshold at the room's exit constituted an unlawful architectural barrier under the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Following a multi-week trial, the jury rejected both the civil rights and premises liability claims, assigning 100 percent comparative negligence to the Plaintiff and awarding zero damages.
A Los Angeles jury awarded security guard Jerry Woldum $1,051,277.50 after a massive metal gate at a dialysis center collapsed on him and crushed his legs during his overnight shift. The jury found that the dialysis center, its property owner, and a physician-owner all negligently controlled the work conditions that led to the accident, even though they had received multiple warnings about the defective gate weeks before it fell.
A Multnomah County jury awarded $38,629,961 to seven Plaintiffs who suffered property destruction and emotional distress during Oregon's 2020 Labor Day wildfires. The Phase II damages trial found PacifiCorp liable for losses from the Echo Mountain Complex fire and the 242 fire, with individual noneconomic awards ranging from $1.69 million to $5.92 million.
On December 4, 2019, shopper Richard Vega suffered severe physical and emotional injuries when he slipped on a wet surface immediately upon entering a Walmart Supercenter in Anaheim, California. Vega filed a premises liability lawsuit against Walmart, Inc. in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, alleging that the retail giant failed to maintain a safe environment and neglected to correct a known hazard. While Walmart argued comparative negligence on the part of the shopper, the jury ultimately found the retailer overwhelmingly responsible for the hazardous condition. On January 27, 2026, the jury returned a special verdict totaling $2,091,371.58, awarding substantial damages for future medical care as well as past and future pain and suffering.
