Kristin Lisi has been awarded by a Philadelphia jury with $3 million after she suffered from a torn rotator cuff after a drunk diner forcibly kissed her.
Security footage shows Gregory Englesbe assaulting Lisi, a waitress in Scarpetta restaurant in Rittenhouse Square, on October 7, 2016.
The South Jersey mortgage bank executive had been dining and drinking with a group at the restaurant for long hours, according to the lawsuit. They even became so loud that they had to be moved to a private dining area.
When Lisi was walking down the hallway, she came face to face with Englesbe and two other men. “You’ve been walking by me all night, and I want a kiss,” Englesbe told her. He grabbed her and forcibly kissed her.
One of the two men leaned over and said “Now it’s my turn” as he tried to kiss Lisi.
The court papers also added: “Incredibly, immediately before (Englesbe) grabbed the plaintiff by the throat, he was in the hallway with John Doe 2, who was actually unzipping his pants in the restaurant hallway when he was smacked by defendant Englesbe, who was heartily laughing, in a “put it away” gesture.”
Lisi claimed that the assault caused her to suffer from a torn rotator cuff. She provided worker’s compensation documents and doctor’s testimony as evidence during the trial.
Dion Rassias, Lisi’s attorney, said: “He starts at her throat and works his way around. It’s like being in a car crash – your body can’t react to it, and it becomes involuntary traction at that point.”
After four hours of deliberation, a jury decided to award Lisi $600,000 in compensatory damages. $2.4 million was also awarded in punitive damages.
Even though Englesbe accepted the blame for kissing and harming Lisi, he said that he didn’t believe he caused such injury. “The plaintiff’s injuries are either non-existent, exaggerated, and or pre-existing,” his lawyers stated.
Since then, Lisi has left the restaurant world and has no plans of going back.
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