Florida Jury Verdict Reporter

Nassau County 2022

(22) SHERRY GOLD vs. CHRISTINE MAZZANTI WARD, STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, ISLAND WALK STATION, LLC, and STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY a/k/a STARBUCKS CORPORATION (Circuit Court of Nassau County, 4^th Judicial Circuit, Florida)
County/Docket #/Judge: Nassau / 20-CA-000109 / Eric C. Roberson
Plaintiff(s) Attorney(s): Curry Gary Pajcic of Pajcic & Pajcic, P.A., Jacksonville, FL;
Defendant(s) Attorney(s): Kendra B. Therrell of Law Offices of Kubicki Draper, Jacksonville, FL, for Christine Mazzanti Ward; Meagan L. Logan of Douglas & Douglas, Lake City, FL, for Starbucks Coffee Company
Age/Sex/Occupation Of Plaintiff: 72 / F / n/a
Cause Of Injury: Negligence/Premises Liability/Motor Vehicle Collision/Pedestrian Customer Struck By Vehicle Exiting Drive-Thru at Coffee Shop. On April 3, 2020, plaintiff Sherry Gold filed a complaint for premises liability and negligence against defendants Christine Mazzanti Ward, Island Walk Station, LLC, and Starbucks Coffee Company a/k/a Starbucks Corporation. Plaintiff also asserted a claim for uninsured/underinsured motorist benefits against her insurer, defendant State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Plaintiff subsequently dismissed State Farm from the case and settled with Island Walk Station.
Plaintiff alleged that on July 1, 2019, she was an in-store customer at a Starbucks store located at 1453 Sadler Road in Fernandina Beach, FL, that was on property owned by Island Walk Station. According to plaintiff, she had exited the Starbucks store and was walking to her motor vehicle in the store’s parking lot when she was struck by a motor vehicle being negligently operated by Ward as Ward was exiting the store’s drive-thru. Plaintiff claimed that she suffered serious and permanent injuries, including multiple broken bones that required a weeklong hospitalization followed by a month of rehabilitation in a nursing home. Plaintiff alleged that Starbucks negligently failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its customers in its design, set up, operation, and maintenance of its premises and drive-thru in light of the reasonably foreseeable dangers to customers on the property. According to plaintiff, there were no stop signs, no warning signs, no designated pedestrian walkways, no protected pedestrian walkways, no cones, no traffic control persons, and no marked exit lane for the drive-thru.
The case went to trial against Ward and Starbucks. Starbucks denied that it was negligent and alleged that plaintiff and Ward were negligent. Ward also denied that she was negligent and alleged that plaintiff, Starbucks, and Island Walk Station were negligent.
Nature Of Injury: Personal injuries including broken bones to right knee, right ankle, and left foot; pain and suffering.
Expert Witnesses:
Plaintiff's:
Farhad Booeshaghi, Ph.D., P.E., Accident Reconstruction, Tallahassee, FL
Craig H. Lichtblau, M.D., Life Care Planning, North Palm Beach, FL
Defendant's:
n/a
Verdict: Mixed on April 11, 2022: For Defendant Ward; $8,970,000 for Plaintiff against Defendant Starbucks ($970,000 – future medical expenses; $1,500,000 – past pain and suffering; $6,500,000 – future pain and suffering).
Judgment: For Defendant Ward on April 18, 2022.
Editor’s Note: The jury found no negligence on the part of plaintiff or Ward. On April 21, 2022, Starbucks filed a motion for new trial, arguing that the jury’s finding that it was 100% negligent was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that the verdict was excessive.