The 100 case sample of slip-and-fall cases taking place in grocery stores showed one high-value outlier of $600,000. To decipher if a case qualified as an outlier for this sample, we analyzed each case’s trend relative to all the other cases, as well as their comparison to the average case value excluding defense verdicts and outliers. We found that most case values were $250,000 and under. This directed us to conclude than any value over $250,000 was an outlier. Figure 1 shows a line graph of the case values of each case in the sample. You can easily see the outlier, which is denoted by the highest peak of the graph.
Outliers are values that present as far above (or below) the average of any data set. These outliers point a researcher to analyze that point to determine why that point would be irregular in terms of the regular trend of values seem in the set. In jury verdict research, outliers direct anyone analyzing jury verdicts to a case to analyze the facts of that case and determine why that case received a higher verdict or settlement in a jury trial setting than another comparable case. High-value outliers must be studied in terms of their ability to skew the average of a data set. Because outliers often cause the average case value of a sample to change, one must always calculate averages with and without the outliers for the most representative average of a data set.
Outlier cases commonly have specific facts that warrant the nonconformity from the overall trend of the other cases in the sample. To exemplify this, let’s look at the outlier from the sample.
Case Study 8 showed us the case of a 54-year-old female plaintiff in Dade County in 1997 who was a patron of the defendant grocery store, Winn-Dixie. Unfortunately, case research didn’t give us a lot of information regarding the case specifics other than that the plaintiff suffered a herniated cervical disc and lower back injury, which required fusion surgery, when she slipped and fell on water near a freezer in the store. This case was resolved with a plaintiff’s verdict in the amount of $600,000 with $100,000 apportioned for the plaintiff’s spouse’s loss of consortium.
To learn more about the value attributed to all slip-and-fall in a grocery store cases, please click here.
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