Grocery store not liable for stranger’s attack on customer

A grocery store is not liable for injuries a man suffered when a stranger assaulted him with an alcohol bottle, according to a St. Louis County jury.

“Our position was that we had no reason to know or have any information that this customer was in the store, let alone that he was going to cause harm to anyone else,” said Ryan Turnage, the in-house attorney for Schnuck Markets.

Plaintiff Justin Holster filed suit stemming from the April 2020 incident in which a visibly intoxicated man entered the store’s liquor department. He began drinking from a bottle at one point, even raising it in a toasting gesture to the establishment’s video camera. He then confronted and harassed customers before encountering Holster, whom he accused of following him.

He then allegedly struck Holster in the face with his bottle and pursued him through the store.

Holster suffered four facial fractures and a closed head injury. The confrontation took place roughly five minutes after the assailant began drinking.

“If an employee had seen them or been watching the surveillance cameras that were there, we posited they could have sent an employee to the aisle to speak with the gentleman,” said Jamie Boyer of Bruning Law Firm, who represented the plaintiff in the case.

Turnage acknowledged that no one was monitoring the video feed but said there was no expectation that such monitoring would take place.

The plaintiff requested $1.5 million in closing arguments.

Boyer said she respected the jury’s decision and noted that jurors expressed sympathy for her client afterwards.

“They said that while they felt very sorry for our client and thought what had happened was incredibly tragic, in their mind, Schnucks simply didn’t have enough time or enough knowledge to know he posed a danger or to have stopped him,” she said.

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Defense verdict

Premises liability

Venue: St. Louis County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date:21SL-CC01832/April 27, 2023

Judge: Richard Stewart

Plaintiffs’ Experts: Robert Reti, St. Louis (oral maxillofacial surgeon)

Last Pretrial Demand: $750,000

Last Pretrial Offer: $0

Caption: Justin Holster v. Schnuck Markets Inc.

Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Jamie Boyer and A.J. Bruning, Bruning Law Firm, St. Louis

Defendant’s Attorneys: Ryan Turnage, Schnuck Markets, St. Louis; Victor Essen and Debbie Champion, Rynearson, Suess, Schnurbusch & Champion, St. Louis