A simple grocery run in Kissimmee has turned into a nearly $4 million courtroom showdown, after a local mother said she slipped on a liquid at a Publix in June 2023 and wound up with permanent spinal injuries.
An Osceola County jury found Publix Super Markets fully at fault after a six-day trial, returning a $3.967 million verdict for 30-year-old plaintiff Victoria Marcano and her injuries, which she says required multiple spinal surgeries.
According to Rubenstein Law, the case, Victoria Marcano v. Publix Super Markets, Inc. (2024-CA-001128), wrapped up with the verdict on Feb. 24 after six days of testimony. The firm says Marcano has undergone three spinal operations so far, including one on her neck and two on her back, and that the jury award is aimed at covering both past and future medical expenses along with non-economic damages.
As reported by ClickOrlando, jurors itemized the $3.967 million verdict as $411,000 for past medical bills, $556,000 for future medical expenses, $750,000 for past non-economic damages, and $2.25 million for future non-economic damages. WKMG also reports that Publix has already fired back in court, filing a motion that asks for a new trial or a reduction of the award.
“This jury got it right,” attorney Raul E. Garcia Jr. said in the Rubenstein Law statement, praising the panel for what the firm describes as a verdict tailored to Marcano’s long-term needs. The release also notes that Publix’s final settlement offer before trial was $600,000, a fraction of what the jury ultimately awarded.
Legal fight ahead
The battle is not over. Publix argues the trial judge allowed evidence that overstated Marcano’s medical bills and is asking the court to step in. According to ClickOrlando, the company has requested a new trial or a sharp cut to the past economic portion of the verdict, down to just under $34,000.
The motion leans on Florida’s medical-expense evidence rules, laid out in F.S. 768.0427, which restrict what juries can see about billed medical charges and how future treatment costs are calculated.
For now, the judgment remains in place while the judge weighs Publix’s request for a new trial or a remittitur that would trim the verdict. Lawyers and retailers alike are keeping an eye on the case as a local measuring stick for how Florida courts apply medical-bill evidence limits when juries hand out large verdicts against national supermarket chains.
