Latest jury verdicts, settlements, and legal outcome analysis
A Waterbury, Connecticut, jury awarded $425,000 to a mother who suffered cervical disc herniations and other serious injuries after a driver traveling approximately 100 miles per hour rear-ended her family's vehicle on Interstate 84 in the early morning hours of July 31, 2021. The high-speed impact pushed both vehicles across the roadway and caused the Defendant's car to burst into flames.
Following a rear-end collision on Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Plaintiff Victoria Dare-Zinycz sought underinsured motorist benefits from her insurer, The Standard Fire Insurance Company, after the tortfeasor's liability coverage fell short. The crash resulted in permanent injuries to her cervical spine, along with lumbar strains and ongoing physical therapy. While the defense raised several special defenses aiming to reduce liability based on policy limits and collateral source payments, the Connecticut Superior Court jury found in favor of the Plaintiff, awarding $54,000 in non-economic damages for pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
A former admission recruiter at a Broward County barber and cosmetology school sued her employer and a co-worker, alleging that the co-worker repeatedly grabbed and touched her without consent and made unwanted sexual advances at the workplace in 2016 and 2017. The lawsuit accused the co-worker of negligence and assault and battery, and accused the school of vicarious liability and negligent hiring, supervision, and retention. The Defendants denied the incidents occurred and raised multiple defenses, including Florida's impact rule and workers' compensation immunity. After a trial in June 2025, the jury returned a verdict in the school's favor, and the Court entered a final judgment stating the Plaintiff would take nothing by her action.
A Miami-Dade couple sued their homeowners insurance company after it failed to pay for wind and rain damage they said struck their property in May 2020. The insurer denied the claim, citing a six-month delay in reporting the loss, missing documentation, and an inspection that found wear and tear rather than storm damage. After a jury trial, the jury found the homeowners did not prove their property suffered a direct physical loss during the policy period, and the Court entered final judgment in favor of the insurance company.
A Florida jury determined that a driver's negligence in a business parking lot collision caused permanent injury to another motorist. The jury awarded damages for past and future medical expenses along with past pain and suffering, and the Court entered judgment against the Defendant for $209,000 plus statutory interest.
A Miami-Dade jury sided with homeowners Judy Dorcelus and Myrtha Ambroise-Dorcelus in their breach of contract suit against Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company, rejecting all eleven of the insurer's affirmative defenses, including late notice, neglect, and failure to provide documentation. The jury awarded $75,000 in damages for a 2019 plumbing-related water loss, and the Court later entered final judgment for $55,828.63 plus $23,513.54 in prejudgment interest.
A Multnomah County jury found that two separate car accidents, one in December 2021 and another in June 2022, jointly aggravated the same neck injury suffered by the Plaintiff. The jury split fault 25 percent to the first driver and 75 percent to the second driver and his employer, awarding a combined $170,100 in economic and noneconomic damages.
A customer accused of shoplifting at a Sacramento supermarket sued after security guards allegedly slammed her to the ground and kicked her during a detention, leaving her unable to stand. She brought claims for negligence, negligent hiring, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. After a week-long trial, the jury found the security guard was not the store's agent, was not negligent, and that the outside security company's services did not involve a special risk of harm — resulting in a defense verdict and judgment for the supermarket.
A jury in Allen Superior Court found Panera, LLC fully responsible for a customer's slip-and-fall injury on an icy restaurant walkway, awarding $987,000 in damages. The case centered on whether the restaurant failed to address a known hazard that endangered visiting customers, with a snow removal contractor also named in the litigation before the matter proceeded to trial against Panera alone.
