Phyllis Toote Case Summary

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In response to the recent lawsuit by Phyllis Toote against Pathmark Stores, Inc., legal options to settle the lawsuit will be discussed. On July 7, 2014 Ms. Toote entered a Pathmark grocery store in San Diego, CA and proceeded to the soda aisle and tripped over a box of soda. The plaintiff was not severely injured, but she did experience some discomfort and proceeded to the hospital to be evaluated. (Cheeseman, 2012) If Pathmark decides to go to trial, this is the scenario that will be likely. This trial will be handled by the California State Court System. This case will be handled at the state level because it does not pertain to any federal laws. The trial will be held at the State Trial Courts of General Jurisdiction for civil cases in San Diego County. After the verdict in San Diego, if the decision is appealed, it will go to the California State Appels Court in San Francisco. If the State Appeals Court’s decision is appealed, the trial will go to the California State Supreme Court in San Francisco. Then, the California State Supreme Court’s decision could be appealed to the United States Supreme Court. This process will be very costly for Pathmark Stores, Incorporated. (Cheeseman, 2012)…show more content…
The chance that Pathmark will win the case is fifty percent. The lawsuit is for $500,000. The lawyers’ fees and litigation cost could exceed $250,000 if the case goes all the way to the California State Supreme Court. Besides financial cost, Pathmark needs to consider non-financial cost of a lawsuit. Employees will be investing time and resources on the lawsuit instead of focusing on the daily operations of Pathmark. The lawsuit could potentially make Pathmark look negative to the public too. Going to trial should be avoided to prevent the waste of time, money and resources. (Cheeseman,
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