Tracy J. Renshaw, Virginia woman sues Outback Steakhouse for $1.5m after slipping on mashed potatoes at Sterling outlet causing ‘serious and permanent injuries.’ The outlet has since denied the claim, alleging the customer failed to exercise ‘ordinary care.’
A Virginia woman has sued Outback Steakhouse for $1.5 million, claiming she was injured when she slipped on mashed potatoes on the floor of a Sterling, Virginia, restaurant.
In her suit filed May 27, Tracy J. Renshaw, 56, alleges falling and becoming injured after stepping on spilled food at one of the chain’s outlets. Her suit seeks to ‘to recover damages for injuries that she sustained in’ the fall.
In the complaint, Renshaw said she was dining with her family at the restaurant on May 14, 2023. It was while going to the restroom the diner slipped on a ‘slippery foreign substance, which appeared to be mashed potatoes’ causing her to ‘fall face forward onto the hard Restaurant floor.’
Customer blames Outback for causing ‘serious and permanent injuries.’
Renshaw alleged that the presence of the substance led to an ‘unreasonably dangerous condition for visitors,’ leading to her ‘serious and permanent injuries.’ The complaint said that there was no posted warning about the substance, USA Today reports.
The complaint alleged that the restaurant had a ‘duty of ordinary care’ to create a safe environment in the restaurant and to warn guests of ‘unsafe conditions.’ The complaint also alleged that the restaurant should have been inspected.
The complaint accused the restaurant of breaching its ‘duty of care’ and of being ‘negligent’ by allowing the substance to remain on the floor and not removing it within a ‘reasonable amount of time,’ as well as failing to inspect the floor or maintain it and failing to warn of the danger.
The complaint alleged that Renshaw sustained injuries and suffered ‘great pain of body and mind,’ along with suffering lost working capacity and hospital bills due to the fall.
Restaurant chain denies culpability, blames customer
Not so fast … The chain in its response has denies the plaintiff’s claims that there was a substance on the floor that caused Renshaw to slip and was dangerous to customers.
The chain alleged ‘there was no duty to post any warning’ and said it did not know of any ‘defective condition,’ denying that Renshaw sustained serious and permanent injuries from the fall. It also denied Renshaw’s claims that the restaurant had ‘a duty of ordinary care,’ saying that these claims were not ‘full and complete statement(s) of the applicable law.’
Outback Steakhouse also denied negligence and asserted assumption of risk, meaning that Renshaw knew and accepted risk of danger, per Justia, as well as contributory negligence, meaning Renshaw played a role in her own accident.
The restaurant said that a condition like the one described in the case would be ‘open and obvious to the Plaintiff exercising ordinary care.’ It also alleged that Renshaw wasn’t injured to the extent that she claimed and denied being indebted to her.
