PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia jury has awarded $5,000 in compensatory damages to a Bucks County woman who alleged she was assaulted and beaten by a fellow customer, when she was shopping at an Old Navy store in Fairless Hills more than three years ago.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Wendy Beetlestone ordered and authorized the judgment in favor of plaintiff Rebecca Cimbat and against defendant Ikea L. Lynch on Nov. 18.
In her suit, initially filed in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on May 17, 2021, Cimbat claimed she was shopping at the Old Navy store in Fairless Hills in Oct. 31, 2018, when Lynch “intentionally, recklessly, negligently, and/or carelessly attacked and assaulted [her], resulting in serious and permanent personal injuries.”
Cimbat alleged that Old Navy failed to protect her from Lynch – who the suit claimed was a known criminal with a record of shoplifting and violent behavior – and leveled counts of negligence, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress collectively against Old Navy and Lynch, seeking compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $50,000.
As part of a June 2021 answer to Cimbat’s allegations, Old Navy denied liability for the incident, argued that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and redirected such liability directly to Lynch through a cross-claim.
In a May 2022 deposition taken in the case, Cimbat described how she witnessed Lynch shoplifting in the store and confronted her about her behavior, leading Lynch to then spit on Cimbat. The deposition of a store manager offered that Lynch may have been under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the incident.
“She assaulted me with a spit first. That’s an assault in the State of Pennsylvania. So the first assault was Ikea Lynch, then I swung to get away from her, swung to get her away from me and leave me alone. I don’t want to be spit on again. I don’t want to be bothered. Leave me alone. And then she brings this punch in, right and puts me down. I went right down on the ground,” Cimbat said in her deposition.
Old Navy unsuccessfully sought to procure complete summary judgment in the matter, though it won dismissal of the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim (but lost its attempt for dismissal of the negligence claim).
After a brief trial in federal court earlier this month, the jury found in Cimbat’s favor and awarded her $5,000 in compensatory damages. Lynch did not secure representation at any point during the case and did not participate in its disposition.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:21-cv-02657
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 201002244
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com