A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against a local restaurant, alleging negligence after a slip-and-fall incident left her with severe injuries. Catherine A. Kempp filed the complaint in the Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit in Pinellas County, Florida, on February 24, 2025, naming Joey’s New York Pizza III, LLC as the defendant.
According to the complaint, on December 24, 2023, Kempp visited Joey’s New York Pizza & Italian Restaurant located at 30681 U.S. Highway 19 N in Palm Harbor as a business invitee. While inside the restaurant, she slipped on an unidentified substance on the floor and fell, resulting in a fractured arm. The lawsuit claims that Joey’s Pizza had a duty to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition for patrons and failed to do so by not addressing or warning about the hazardous condition of their floors.
Kempp argues that there were no warning signs indicating that the floor was slippery and asserts that the hazard was not visible to her at the time of her fall. The plaintiff contends that Joey’s Pizza either knew or should have known about the dangerous condition due to its responsibility to exercise reasonable diligence in maintaining safety standards within their establishment. "Defendant breached its duty of care by failing to maintain the Restaurant floors in a reasonably safe condition," states Kempp's complaint.
The plaintiff is seeking damages exceeding $50,000 for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life due to permanent injuries sustained from the fall. She also demands a jury trial for all issues triable by jury.
Representing Catherine A. Kempp are attorneys David H. Wright and Kristi Neher Davisson from Mark H. Wright PLLC based in Tampa, Florida. The case is identified under Case Number: 25-000865-CI with Ken Burke serving as Clerk of the Circuit Court for Pinellas County.