Additional Coverage:
- Woman wins $11 million from Target after her leg turned into a ‘pretzel’ in parking lot fall (irishstar.com)
Florida Woman Awarded Over $11 Million After Target Parking Lot Fall
A Florida woman has been awarded a staggering $11.39 million after a jury found Target Corporation and Site Centers Corp. largely responsible for injuries she sustained in a December 2019 fall at a Winter Garden Village shopping center parking lot. The plaintiff, 44, had previously rejected a pre-trial settlement offer of $250,000.
The incident occurred on December 23, 2019, when the woman was navigating the Target parking lot with her daughter. To avoid holiday traffic and puddles, she walked between parked cars. As she passed a landscaping island, she tripped on an unmarked elevation change between the asphalt and a concrete gutter, an irregularity her legal team claimed violated several building codes.
Upon stepping onto the raised surface, her left ankle twisted, causing her to fall. While holding her child, she landed in an “awkward, pretzel-like position” in an attempt to protect her daughter.
This resulted in fractures to her right tibia, right fibula, and right lateral malleolus. She subsequently underwent surgery to repair the injuries and now lives with permanent metal hardware in her leg.
Attorneys Matt Morgan and Fan Li of Morgan and Morgan represented the plaintiff, stating, “Our client suffered a devastating and lifelong injury due to the defendants’ negligence, and she now lives with pain and limitations from the metal rods and screws in her right leg.” They added, “This verdict spoke the full truth as to the level of human harms and losses sustained by our client in the past and the future. We’re pleased that our presentation of the evidence resonated with jurors, who delivered a just verdict which we hope will make up for the ways in which our client’s life was irrevocably altered through no fault of her own.”
The jury determined the defendants were 90% responsible for the incident.