A man was served a cleaning liquid at Cracker Barrel. Now, the restaurant has to pay millions

Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY
·2 min read

A Cracker Barrel was ordered to pay over $9 million to a customer after the restaurant served him a glass of water mixed with a cleaning chemical.

The customer, William Cronnon, had lunch at a Cracker Barrel location in Marion County, Tennessee in April 2014, according to court documents and a statement from Cronnon’s attorneys. Marion County is located approximately 30 miles west of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

During the incident, Cronnon took a sip of what he thought was water before experiencing a burning feeling in his mouth and esophagus. He then went to a nearby emergency room and developed gastrointestinal issues including cramping, reflux pain and more, according to his attorneys at the law firm Bailey & Greer.

Eco-San is a “food contact surface sanitizer and destainer for use in low-temperature ware washing machines,” according the website for Ecolab, the company that makes Eco-San.

A Tennessee jury earlier this month awarded Cronnon more than $4.3 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. But the funds given to Cronnon will not total $9.3 million due to a cap on damages under the state's law.

The court's judgment order on the jury's verdict states Cronnan is to be awarded $4.4 million.

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“While we have great respect for the legal process, we are obviously disappointed by and strongly disagree with the jury’s award in this case," Cracker Barrel said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY.

“Although we are considering our options with respect to this verdict, we are glad this matter is behind us so we can better focus on caring for our guests and employees around the country,” the statement continued.

The statement from Cronnon’s attorneys alleged “Cracker Barrel servers regularly used unmarked water pitchers to mix water and Eco-San together, and then soaked parts of the soda machine in that mixture in order to clean them.”

“We are very happy that the jury found for our client. He is a good, honest person, and he must live with the fallout of Cracker Barrel’s dangerous policy for the rest of his life,” the statement added. The attorneys argued that Cronnon’s injuries “were severe and persistent enough that he could not work.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee: Cracker Barrel to pay millions after serving cleaning fluid

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