Waitresses are used to dealing with bad customers. Few, however, end up having to sue one, and fewer still end up with a $3 million jury award after being injured by a diner who couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Kristin Lisi, a server at the Scarpetta Italian restaurant in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia, filed a lawsuit after an October 2016 incident in which a wealthy patron, Gregory Englesbe, drunkenly grabbed her by the throat and pulled her in for an unwanted kiss.
According to Ms. Lisi’s court papers, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Mr. Englesbe said, “You’ve been walking by me all night, and I want a kiss” before taking hold of her.
Her court papers added that “as defendant released Ms. Lisi from his grasp, John Doe 2,” his unnamed dining companion, “then stated ‘now it’s my turn,’ leaned in toward plaintiff, grabbed her arm and attempted to kiss her.”
“Incredibly, immediately before the defendant grabbed the plaintiff by the throat, he was in the hallway with John Doe 2, who was actually unzipping his pants in the restaurant hallway when he was smacked by defendant Englesbe, who was heartily laughing, in a ‘put it away’ gesture,” the court papers continued.
Ms. Lisi’s court papers said the entire incident was caught on the restaurant’s surveillance video, a copy of which was submitted into evidence. She reported the incident to management and the police were called, though Mr. Englesbe was not criminally charged. Ms. Lisi claimed she suffered injuries to her rotator cuff, neck and shoulders as a result of the incident.
The jury took just under four hours to render the $3 million verdict, which included $2.4 million in punitive damages, after two days of trial before Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Sean Kennedy.
Mr. Englesbe’s court papers said he did not dispute the kiss or the activity caught on the surveillance video. He did contest the extent of Ms. Lisi’s injuries. “The plaintiff’s injuries are either non-existent, exaggerated, and or pre-existing,” his court papers said.
P.J. D'Annunzio: 215-557-2315, pdannunzio@alm.com; Twitter @PJDannunzioTLI. To read more articles like this, visit thelegalintelligencer.com.
First Published: June 26, 2018, 1:15 p.m.
