Cracker Barrel Diner Served Commercial Bleach Wins $9.33 Million Verdict
After trial: Reduced by statute: Tennessee's cap cut the $3.6 million noneconomic award to $750,000, leaving about $6.48 million with $730,000 in economic and $5 million in punitive damages. Cracker Barrel said it was weighing its options; no appeal, settlement or payment has been reported.
Won by Greer Injury Lawyers.
A Marion County jury awarded $9.4 million after a Cracker Barrel waitress refilled a customer's glass with a mix of water and commercial bleach instead of ice water.
What happened
In April 2014, William Cronnon stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel in Marion County, Tennessee. When his glass ran low, a waitress refilled it with what he assumed was ice water. It was not. The glass held a mixture of water and Eco-San, a commercial grade bleach the restaurant used to clean parts of its soda machine. Staff had mixed the cleaning solution in unmarked pitchers and kept it near the drink station.
Cronnon drank before he understood what had happened. He felt an immediate burning in his mouth and esophagus and realized the liquid was some kind of chemical, not water. He went to the emergency room for treatment. The chemical injured the lining of his mouth and throat.
In the months that followed, Cronnon developed lasting gastrointestinal problems: cramping, bloating, diarrhea, and reflux pain after meals. A former textile factory worker, he said the symptoms kept him from going back to the kind of work he had done for years.
Represented by attorney Thomas Greer, Cronnon sued over how the restaurant handled the cleaning chemical. The case centered on a simple failure: a corrosive cleaner had been left in an unlabeled pitcher within reach of the area where servers filled drinks, with nothing to tell it apart from drinking water. The matter went to trial in Marion County.
In January 2022, the jury returned its verdict. It awarded about $4.33 million in compensatory damages ($730,000 economic and $3.6 million noneconomic) and added $5 million in punitive damages, for a total of about $9.33 million, reported as $9.4 million. Tennessee's $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages cut the compensatory award to about $1.48 million, leaving about $6.48 million with the punitive award.
Greer told reporters that Tennessee's statutory caps on damages would sharply cut what his client could actually collect, leaving him with far less than the jury awarded. "This is an unfair law," he said. "He will not receive anything close to what he is entitled to." Cracker Barrel said it was disappointed by and strongly disagreed with the verdict, describing the episode as an unfortunate and isolated incident at one of its stores.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.CBS News: Cracker Barrel ordered to pay $9.4 million after patron drinks cleaning liquid·Archived copy
- 2.Inside Edition: Over $9M Verdict Against Cracker Barrel After Man Served Cleaning Liquid Instead of Water·Archived copy
- 3.WTVC NewsChannel 9, Jury awards millions to Tennessee man served chemical but Cracker Barrel to pay much less, January 2022
- 4.Chattanooga Times Free Press, Marion County jury awards local man $6.5 million in lawsuit against Cracker Barrel, January 2022
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