I know prices are getting out of hand recently, but seriously?
A Virginia woman is taking Outback Steakhouse to court. According to Dexerto, Tracy Renshaw alleges that she slipped on mashed potatoes and suffered some pretty horrible injuries.
Court documents say that the alleged incident occurred on May 14, 2023, in a Sterling, Virginia, location of Outback Steakhouse.
She originally filed the case back in March 2025 in the county circuit court. But the company requested for the case to be removed down to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on May 27.
She alleged that what happened was as follows. She went into the restaurant and slipped on a "slippery foreign substance" which "appeared to be mashed potatoes." The fall was quite a heavy one, with her falling on her face.
The lawsuit continues, saying that the alleged mashed potatoes were an "unreasonably dangerous condition for visitors." The fall allegedly caused Renshaw "serious and permanent injuries."
The injuries include "physical injuries, emotional distress, reduced working capacity, and incurred medical expenses" because of the alleged potatoes.
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The Company Has Refuted the Claims
Outback Steakhouse has denied that the mashed potatoes incident happened at all.
While Renshaw claims that there was negligence from the employees in allegedly leaving the substance there, Outback Steakhouse has said negligence did not occur.
Outback added that there was no need to explicitly post a warning, and even said that Renshaw would not have received the claimed injuries due to a fall of that nature.
They even implied they would countersue. Outback Steakhouse said that "assumption of risk" and "contributory negligence" were involved. That basically means that she should have seen the mashed potatoes—they wrote specifically that the risk was "open and obvious" to customers.
The Outback Steakhouse in Question Has Closed
However, in an interesting twist to the case, the Sterling, Virginia location is listed as 'permanently closed'. While it's not clear whether this was due to the alleged incident or just because of financial hardship, this may become clear as the lawsuit continues.
I guess this whole lawsuit comes as a warning, no matter where you are. Watch where you're walking!
