Benjamin Press v. NPC International, Inc.

William Gula, Esq., Kory Watson, Esq., and Ken Amos, Esq. (St. Petersburg, FL) (Premises Liability) secured a defense verdict for the largest Pizza Hut franchisee in the world, NPC International, Inc., from a Pasco County, Florida jury. Plaintiff, Benjamin Press, represented by Chase Florin, Esq. and Luca Esposito, Esq. of Florida Roebig, claimed NPC was negligent in failing to maintain and/or warn of a dangerous condition involving a door closer in the front entry way to the restaurant. Plaintiff testified he was struck in the head by the door closer while exiting the restaurant. Plaintiff’s key eyewitness, Duane Scranton, was a former employee who testified that he observed the door closer rattling for weeks before the incident, warned management that it was going to fall and injure a customer, and actually witnessed the Plaintiff get struck in the head by the door closer when it fell as Plaintiff walked through the front door. There were no other eyewitnesses to the incident, and there was no factual dispute that the door closer fell and struck the Plaintiff. A former manager, Michelle Wiseman, and current area supervisor for NPC, Randy Harris, both testified that there were no prior issues with the door closer and there was no report by Duane Scranton to management about the condition of the door closer. Plaintiff’s counsel argued NPC was accountable because there was no dispute the door closer fell and struck the Plaintiff, and NPC admitted fault if its employee knew of a problem with the door closer and failed to lock the door or put up a sign to prevent its use. William Gula, Esq. argued that Duane Scranton was not credible, and Plaintiff’s theory of negligence would place an unreasonable burden on NPC to tighten every screw on its premises every single day. The trial was bifurcated for liability to be tried in phase one, and damages to be tried in phase two. Plaintiff’s alleged damages in the second phase of the trial would have included a cervical fusion and total medical bills in excess of one hundred seventy thousand dollars ($170,000.00).