A jury awarded $500,000 for a grocery store slip-and-fall case, but reduced the verdict by nearly half because of the comparative negligence of the shopper.
Under Georgia law, if the plaintiff had been found at least 50 percent at fault, the award would have been zero. But the Gwinnett County State Court jury determined Josephine Tschirhart was only 45 percent responsible for her own fall, which she claimed injured her back. The April 24 verdict left the defendant, Ingles Markets Inc., with a $300,000 judgment, which has now been paid, according to lawyers from both sides.
