$1.8M verdict after a customer tripped on an uneven sidewalk outside a convenience store

A Clayton County, Georgia, jury awarded $1.8 million to a customer who tripped on an uneven section of concrete sidewalk outside a convenience store and broke a bone in her dominant hand.

The fall happened at about 3:45 a.m. on October 15, 2015, as she walked from the store back to her car. She fell forward onto her right hand and hit her head. The fall fractured the joint where the bone below her pinky finger meets the wrist. She had surgery under general anesthesia, with temporary metal wires to repair the fracture, followed by physical therapy. In January 2018 her doctor gave her a 4 percent impairment rating for the arm and said the lost motion in her finger was permanent. Witnesses said she could no longer do some everyday tasks without help.

The store’s owner moved the case to federal court early on. The customer asked to send it back, and at that point the only damages she had put a number on were about $7,165, apparently medical expenses. The federal court returned the case to state court. Before trial, the owner asked the judge to cap any recovery at $75,000 because of that position. The judge refused. At trial, the customer’s lawyer told jurors the owner had fought the claim for almost ten years and had admitted responsibility only during trial. The jury returned its $1.8 million verdict in 2024. The court records we reviewed do not give the exact date.

The trial court denied a new trial in March 2025. On June 23, 2026, the Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed, holding that the permanent impairment rating issued after the case returned to state court was a change in circumstances, and that the award was not so excessive as to suggest bias or mistake. The owner gave notice that it would ask the Supreme Court of Georgia to review the case but did not pursue it, and the appeal closed in August 2026.