Cracker Barrel has been ordered to pay a man $9.4 million after serving him a glass filled with chemicals instead of water. “The jury returned a verdict for compensatory damages of $4.3 million in just 30 minutes — one of the fastest verdicts we have ever seen — and awarded punitive damages of $5 million after only 10 minutes of additional deliberation,” said Plaintiff William Cronnon’s attorney Thomas Greer in an interview.
“The speed of the verdict, combined with an amount in excess of what we asked, speaks to just how dangerous the Cracker Barrel policy was.”
Cracker Barrel paying hefty sum of money to a man after serving him glass filled with chemicals
Cracker Barrel said that they were “disappointed” with the award. “While we have great respect for the legal process, we are obviously disappointed by and strongly disagree with the jury’s award in this case, which involved an unfortunate and isolated incident that occurred at one of our stores eight years ago,” said Cracker Barrel Relations in an email to CNN.
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“Although we are considering our options with respect to this verdict, we are glad this matter is behind us so we can better focus on caring for our guests and employees around the country.”
Cronnon was dining at a Cracker Barrel when he went to sip a glass full of what he believed to be water. “only to immediately realize that it was not ice water but was some chemical that caused a burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus.” This was back in April 2014. Later on, it was discovered that Cronnon was actually served a chemical called Eco-San, which was used as a kitchen cleaner.
In the lawsuit, it was described that Eco-San caused permanent and serious internal physical injury to Cronnon, which continues to this day and also continues to accrue medical expenses.
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