Orange County Jury Finds Utility Liable for Dog Walker's Broken Ankle in Defective Water Meter Box
After trial: The $700,820 verdict was reduced to the utility's 66% share of fault, a $462,541.20 judgment that Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed in November 2025. The part above the sovereign immunity limit can be paid only by act of the legislature, and we could not confirm whether any claims bill was filed or paid.
Won by Mejia Law Group, PLLC and Wooten Kimbrough Damaso & Dennis.
Marion Hall broke her right ankle on July 8, 2021, when she stepped off a sidewalk into a broken Orlando Utilities Commission water meter box while walking her dog. An Orange County jury awarded $700,820 in pain and suffering damages on Feb. 23, 2024 and put 66% of the fault on the utility. Judgment was entered for $462,541.20, and Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed it in November 2025.
What happened
On July 8, 2021, Marion Hall was walking her dog in Orlando when she stepped off a sidewalk and her right foot dropped into a hole left by a broken water meter box. The box belonged to the Orlando Utilities Commission, the city-owned utility, and sat on privately owned property. Hall broke her right ankle in the fall.
She sued in the Circuit Court of Orange County in November 2022. Her claim against the utility was that it had failed to keep its own meter box in a reasonably safe condition. She also sued the two owners of the property where the box was located, then dropped those claims with prejudice on Feb. 2, 2024, shortly before trial. The utility denied the allegations and argued that the property owners, and Hall herself, were at fault.
Thomas L. Dennis, Christopher N. Gonsalves and Michael J. Damaso II of Wooten, Kimbrough, Damaso & Dennis represented Hall, according to the Florida Jury Verdict Reporter. Dennis R. O'Connor of O'Connor, Haftel & Angell defended the utility. Judge Eric J. Netcher presided.
The jury was asked to decide only pain and suffering. On Feb. 23, 2024, it awarded $700,820: $314,900 for past pain and suffering and $385,920 for future pain and suffering. It then divided fault. The jury found the utility 66% negligent and each of the two property owners, who were no longer defendants, 17% negligent. It found that Hall bore no fault.
Because Florida apportions damages by each party's share of fault, the utility was responsible for 66% of the verdict. On March 7, 2024, the court entered judgment for $462,541.20. The judgment also recorded a limit that comes with suing a government body in Florida: the part of a judgment above the statutory sovereign immunity limit can be reported to the legislature, but payment of that part requires an act of the legislature.
The utility's post-trial motions were denied on March 28, 2024, and it filed a notice of appeal on April 17, 2024. Hall died on May 6, 2024, and Jason Hammer, as personal representative of her estate, was substituted as the appellee. On Nov. 4, 2025, Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment in a one-line per curiam decision, with Sebastian C. Mejia of Mejia Law Group appearing for the estate on appeal.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
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