WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who slipped and fell in a Bonefish Grill, then lost her case after a four-day jury trial, also lost her argument the restaurant denied her a fair trial by failing to disclose there were multiple video cameras in the building at the time of her accident.
Patricia Farley fell in a Bonefish Grill in April 2017 and blamed restaurant employees for failing to clean the floor. After an insurance adjuster denied her claim, she sued and demanded all photo and video evidence of the scene of the accident.
Bonefish Grill turned over photos but denied it had any video evidence. Then at trial manager Ryan Parsley testified the restaurant was equipped with “about nine” video cameras. Farley’s lawyer called for spoliation instructions allowing the jury to assume any missing evidence supported her case but the judge denied the motion and the jury returned a verdict for Bonefish Grill.
Farley moved for a new trial and in discovery Bonefish Grill said it had six cameras, not nine, and all recordings were erased after 21 days. None of the cameras overed the main dining room where Farley fell, the company said, so it wasn’t lying when it said it had no video evidence of the accident.
Farley’s lawyers argued other cameras could have provided supporting evidence, such as one that could have shown if any employees had gotten a mop and bucket before or after she fell. They cited previous Delaware cases including one where a company was penalized for destroying video evidence of the condition of a sidewalk even though it wasn’t pointed at the actual place where a plaintiff fell.
Superior Court Judge Danielle J. Brennan denied the motion for new trial in a Feb. 22 decision, however.
“Neither party has presented the Court with witness testimony or any other evidence indicating that a Bonefish employee cleaned a spill shortly before or after plaintiff’s fall,” the judge concluded. “Without any circumstantial or corroborating evidence, plaintiff fails to properly support her request for a spoliation adverse inference instruction.”
Farley was represented by Sean Gambogi of Kimmel, Carter, Roam, Peltz & O’Neill. Bonefish was represented by Kevin Connors of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin.