Court tells Starbucks to pay man $7.5 million for slip-and-fall accident

Here's what happened: Anthony Zaccaglin, 51, ordered his drink and walked to the other end of the counter to pick it up when he fell, hitting his head on the tile floor. The floor had just been mopped, and a store manager contends she had put out three "wet floor" cones. Other witnesses claim there was just one cone. The accident left the man with a brain injury. Starbucks says it's sorry the man was injured, but...

"We are disappointed with the size of the verdict as we made every effort to reach a mutually agreeable and reasonable settlement with Mr. Zaccaglin. We are reviewing the decision to determine what, if any, steps we may take in response."

* Man wins $7.5 million suit against Starbucks (San Diego Union-Tribune)

Comments

[Ian]

Well, SOMEONE feels entitled.

[red cup]

Welcome to America: the country where we can blame our own actions on someone else.

[Herman]

Welcome to America: the country where we can blame our own actions on someone else.

It all starts with the guy at the top.

[Robert]

Zaccglin should get nothing but a free cup of stale coffee. How can Starbucks be blamed for somone else's carelessness?

[Pike is here to stay]

Herman, do you mean Obama?

[drive]

The story says that Starbucks tried to settle for only $100,000.

That is a paltry sum for a brain injury that wrecks someone's entire life. I applaud this man, his lawyer and the jury for a fair and just verdict. A customer who enters Starbucks should walk out with a latte, not with a traumatic brain injury.

[SwabnTheDeck]

Ooooh people are sooooo stupid!

[red cup]

How Ironic herman you are Blaming someone else for the behavior of americans, NO this problem has been here LONG before our great president Obama took office buddy.

[Confused as always]

Red cup, I hope you find ''punctuation'' and ''capitalization'' under the tree tomorrow morning..

[Ms. Barista]

red cup, apparently you've never known anyone who suffered a traumatic brain injury. The gentleman in question has not been able to work since the injury.

[Frank]

I feel terrible for Mr Zaccaglin and send him every wish for a complete recovery. That said, the floors of retail establishments *do* get messy during the day, necessitating cleaning. Cleaning leaves floors wet and potentially slippery. Workers set out signs and cones to warn us of these slippery areas. This is all part of the daily experience of living in the industrialized world. If the manager put out a warning cone, and Mr Zaccaglin failed to see or heed it, how does that become a $7 million liability for Starbucks? How is that just?

[TiredofThis]

It sucks this guy got hurt, it really does. However, I fail to see how that entitles him to 7.5 million dollars.

[Anon]

I always feel evil but somewhat amused when people actually trip over the wet floor signs. It seems more and more we can't be bothered to look around us or be aware of whats going on.

I feel for this person, 7 million is nothing for a brain injury that ruins your life and your family, but gosh - what the heck does Starbucks do now? I wonder what would have happened if this was a mom and pop coffee shop. I guarantee you that the person wouldn't be seeing any of that 7 mil.

[CC]

Starbucks has a really bad habit of mopping the floor FOR CLOSING hours before closing. Why? So they don't have to pay their employees to work when the doors are closed. I've talked to the employees at my local Starbucks and the higher ups want them to be out of there 30 mins after closing. Starbucks had this coming, sorry to say. I've walked in there KNOWING the floor was wet and being very careful and still have lost my footing multiple times. As for the floors getting dirty, they don't have to remain wet. A dry mop following the wet mop would get them quite dry, but of course Starbucks isn't going to pay to have TWO employees cleaning floors!

[medevacs]

Other witnesses claim there was just one cone

LOL! So how many of these should be there? Two? Five? Ten? In my store we have only one at all. Honestly, I don't know any Starbucks that would have more then one. Company saves even on "yellow signs". And @CC that's whole true what you wrote. But that's also not that simple with this drying you're saying. Company saves also on mop heads. At least here in UK where I work they are so shitty that drying up anything with them is impossible. Yes, one can wipe floor with tissues but it's not possible if wet area is big. And believe me, there are situations when you have to wet mop "half" of the floor: leaking bin bag, customer spilling drink all the way from condiment bar down the exit, sick child vomiting while running from the table to the toilet... Sounds funny but it happens more often then you could imagine.

[suzy coffee]

I slipped and fell on a cruise ship. I hurt my back and twisted my ankle. When I called for help, they said the doctor was off duty. Figure that out, we were 6 miles out to sea. Then the woman asked me wasn't there a caution sign? Sure, it was there, that just meant you knew I was going to fall. I recovered, without any medical help.

[tea-rex]

@CC

What does it mean to mop the floor for closing? With the amount of traffic that most stores I have been into, it's usually the case that I wish they mopped even more often during the day.

Also, what's the issue with being able to leave 30 minutes after they close?

[javagirl666]

High volume stores spot mop their cafes 2 or 3 times during the day..and 30 mins. to close a store is more than adequate.

[Bob]

Unbelievable. Those that applaud this sort of gross abuse of the system by ambulance chasing lawyers need to understand that the cost of everything goes up a result of the “lawyer tax”. Let’s just hope the verdict by these twelve idiots is tossed on appeal. And a witch doctor- I mean chiropractor no less. There’s no doubt that the severity of this “brain injury” was created in the writing of expert witnesses- but even it not, it was the guys own fault.

[Realitycheck]

Yes,brain injuries are horrible. I have a close family member with one. No one is saying otherwise.
Common sense is sadly nor common any longer. No one wants to accept responsibility for their own actions.

[morningbecomes]

@javagirl66- I work in a high volume store. We mop once a day-after close- and have a 3-person, 45-minute close.

[BaristaBC]

If I tripped and fell, I would consider it my own fault. If the floor is obviously wet, I'd make more effort to be careful.

I can tell you that I have often mopped the floors before closing - my store has a pre-closer who cleans the bathroom and sweeps and mops the cafe floor - and even with the yellow caution cone, which I place in front of the store entrance, people still manage to overlook it. Because of that, as a way to cover myself and my store, I do try to warn people coming in that the floor is wet and therefore, slippery.

[SANDRA DUNLAP]

Is there a starbucks in Va that has a starbucks coffee mug that says VA on it?

[hearbutloud]

I live in an area that receives ice and snow. People will avoid a clear walkway and walk on VISIBLE ice, slipping and sliding away, instead. You can't teach stupid away.

[Okorta!]

Seriously? Bottom line here is: STARBUCKS HAS NO BUSINESS MOPPING BEFORE CLOSING. I'm in one now, two hours before closing. It isnt raining. It isnt snowing. The floor looks clean enough so it's nit like they are even needing to dry-mop to prevent water from being dragged in from outside (as that would make sense). This Starbucks? ONE "Floor Wet" sign. NOT 3.

[baristamclane]

Of course SBUX was disappointed with the verdict, because they failed to quietly settle out of court.

[You should've fell and died.]

Looks like no pay raises and crappy bonuses for everyone this year!! But honestly, I hope they just hike up the price >.>

[Matt]

Frivolous lawsuits are joked about a lot but this is a true example. Slipping on a wet floor that you know is wet does not entitle you to 7.5 million dollars. Also if you read the article he had a concussion and "mild brain injury" [concusssion], it's not like he's a vegetable now. I bet the reason he "was unable to return to work" is because he realized that with 7.5m he can retire.

[Datedotit]

"...and 30 mins. to close a store is more than adequate...."

Depends on the store. My store, not so much. :-)

[Datedotit]

"...This Starbucks? ONE "Floor Wet" sign. NOT 3...."

Well Honey, if you're too damn dense to see and comprehend the first one then the other two aren't really gonna help you - are they now?