A Virginia woman is suing Outback Steakhouse for $1.5 million, claiming she suffered serious injuries when she slipped on some mashed potatoes. According to the complaint, the incident took place on May 14, 2023, at an Outback Steakhouse that is no longer in operation.
The federal lawsuit claims that the woman, Tracy J. Renshaw, was walking to the restroom at an Outback Steakhouse in Sterling, Virginia, when she slipped on a pile of mashed potatoes and fell face-first to the ground, suffering “serious and permanent injuries.”
Her case, which was first filed in Loudoun County Circuit Court and then transferred to federal court last month, accuses the restaurant chain of failing to provide a safe environment for its customers.
The lawsuit also claims that the “slippery foreign substance” put customers at risk. She further contends that the mashed potatoes “created an unreasonably dangerous condition for visitors” and that the staff had not posted any warning about “the presence of the slippery foreign substance on the floor.”
According to Renshaw, Outback allowed the mashed potatoes to “remain on the floor,” and the staff did not clean them up “within a reasonable amount of time.”
She claims that she “suffered…great pain of body and mind,” as well as “diminished working and earning capacities.” She also claims to have “incurred, and will incur in the future, hospital, doctors’ and related bills in an effort to treat her injuries.”
Outback Steakhouse refuted most of the allegations, particularly those concerning the severity of Renshaw’s injuries. Additionally, the business claimed that it had no “duty to warn regarding any condition that was open and obvious to the Plaintiff exercising ordinary care.”
Outback has requested a dismissal of the lawsuit. Renshaw is demanding a jury trial.