The Watsons, African-Americans, sued in August 1998 after a female courier from the Port St. John Pizza Hut, near Cocoa, delivered a $10 pizza to their home. A receipt with the pizza allegedly contained a racial slur and the word 'stupid', court records show.
Fawsett's rationale for trashing the jury award was that corporate officials could not be held responsible for the alleged illegal actions of employees, court records of her order show. The Atlanta appellate court disagreed.
Pizza Hut fired the employee who allegedly wrote on the receipt and also his supervisor. The restaurant apologized and offered to take the Watsons to dinner which they declined, testimony shows.
Pizza Hut's parent, Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. of Louisville, the world's largest fast-food chain operator (30,000 units--KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut), offered to settle the suit for $100,000 in 1998 but the Watsons refused, according to court records.
The eight-person jury (seven men, one woman) awarded Watson's daughter, Eugene Gray, 16 at the time, $250,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Gray had ordered the pizza.
A new court date hasn't been set. Another federal judge in Orlando will probably hear the case, U.S. District Court deputy clerks tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.
Tricon Global Restaurants was spun off from Pepsi Cola Corp. in 1996. Total worldwide system retail sales in 100 countries were $22 billion in 2000, according to the company's Web site. Pizza Hut has 67 outlets in metro Orlando.
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