$225,000 Premises Liability Settlement for Injury at Fast Food Establishment

A 20 year old woman was in a Granite City, Illinois fast food restaurant, waiting for her food, when she went to fill her cup at the self-service soda station. While she was getting ice, vibrations from the machine shook loose a piece of plastic, just above the client’s head. The plastic piece struck her on the forehead, bending her head backwards, injuring her neck. A later MRI showed that the woman had suffered herniated disc in her neck. She was referred to a spine surgeon who performed surgery on her injured neck. Neither the fast food restaurant nor ice machine vendor would take responsibility for the accident. The woman turned to Christopher Geldmacher of Sauter Sullivan for help with her premises liability claim. Mr. Geldmacher took her case and filed a lawsuit against both the restaurant and ice machine vendor. Sauter Sullivan’s investigation revealed that the piece of plastic that injured the client had fallen several times before, and the restaurant employees kept putting the piece of plastic back on the machine without securing it properly. Prior to trial, the case went to a mediation where Mr. Geldmacher obtained a settlement of $225,000 for his client.