Woman awarded $2.8 million

A 49-year-old grocery checker won a $2.8 million judgment against Carmine's Little Italy after she sued the Las Vegas restaurant where she slipped and injured her back.

The Clark County jury found Carmine's was liable in the 2004 fall of Debbie Giglio, who fell at the restaurant. The jury awarded Giglio $5.5 million for negligence, but the amount was cut by 49 percent because she was found partly responsible for the injury.

"While Debbie was found partially responsible, Nevada law does not require a person to watch every step in a restaurant setting," said Robert Adams, one of her attorneys. "Debbie lost everything that was meaningful to her."

The jury reached its verdict late Tuesday night.

Giglio had worked as a grocery checker for Albertson's in Nevada for almost 20 years, said Adams, who is with the legal firm Mainor Eglet Cottle.

She slipped and fell at the restaurant shortly after she finished eating. She was walking to a bathroom at the time of the fall, he said. She had two back surgeries after the accident and required a morphine pump to be permanently implanted in her body for pain.

The award covers past earnings, future medical care, future lost earnings, past loss of household services, and pain and suffering.

Carmine Vento, the restaurant's owner, maintained his establishment was safe. He said he was appealing the verdict.

"We never had a problem in this place," he said. "If it was so negligent, we would have people falling all over the place."