Employees of a Lake Worth Beach Publix had a duty to warn its customers in the summer of 2020 that a woman who had just left the store was outside, carrying a gun and threatening to kill people, a jury decided this week.
The woman, Renata Gloria Ray, was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to eight years in prison last year, but the victim of the shooting, Tocka Hardaway, 62, of Greenacres, sued Publix, arguing that she never would have left the store if she had known someone with a gun was outside acting erratically.
“It was the least they could have done,” said Peter Dyson, one of Hardaway’s lawyers.
Several store employees knew that Ray, 66, was outside the store with a gun, but no one made an announcement, locked the doors or warned customers that they were risking their lives if they exited the store.
That, according to the jury, was a breach of trust that cannot be excused.
Ray confronted Hardaway outside the store, got into an argument with her, and shot her in the foot.
A jury this week found Publix was 80% responsible for what happened to Hardaway and awarded her $2.55 million.
“For years they tried to say our client was responsible for what happened, that she risked her own life,” said Joseph Bosco, Hardaway’s other lawyer.
“Publix had a duty to protect and warn its shoppers,” Dyson said. “The verdict underscores growing concern about retail safety and corporate responsibility as gun violence continues to rise in Florida public spaces.”
A message left for the attorneys representing Publix was not returned Thursday afternoon.
The jury’s verdict comes in the middle of a flurry of decisions about gun rights and responsibilities in Florida. Last week a Broward judge ruled the state’s restriction on concealed carry by adults aged 18-20 was unconstitutional because older adults face no such restriction.
Last month, the Florida Supreme Court ruled open carry is a Second Amendment right that cannot be infringed.
