Jury awards customer $9 million after accidentally being served bleach

Robert Besser
23 Jan 2022, 14:59 GMT+10

Following a nearly 10-year court battle, after being served commercial-grade bleach instead of water at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Tennessee man has been awarded $9 million
However, due to a Tennessee law passed in 2011 limiting financial damages in lawsuits to $750,000, he will not receive the full amount
Regrading the 2011 law, Greer told NBC it is unfair and "only protects corporations, insurance companies and hurts people who are seriously injured"

MARION COUNTY, Tennessee: Following a nearly 10-year court battle, after being served commercial-grade bleach instead of water at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, a Tennessee man has been awarded $9 million.

However, due to a Tennessee law passed in 2011 limiting financial damages in lawsuits to $750,000, he will not receive the full amount.

Plaintiff William Cronnon's attorney, Thomas Greer, told CNN, "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."

Regrading the 2011 law, Greer told NBC it is unfair and "only protects corporations, insurance companies and hurts people who are seriously injured."

Cronnon "would take all the money and throw it in the ocean to go back in time and not have this happen to him," Greer added.

The incident took place in April 2014, when Cronnon was served what he thought was water, but turned out to be Eco-San, a sanitizer mixed with water.

CNN reported the mistake caused permanent and serious internal physical injury to Cronnon, and court documents stated he felt an immediate "burning sensation in his mouth and esophagus."

Following the findings, a Cracker Barrel spokesperson told NBC that the company is "considering its options."

Greer told WRCB that he expects Cracker Barrel to dispute the verdict and file a motion for a new trial, but hopes that would not be the case.