A Florida jury has ordered a national ice cream chain and its parent company to pay more than $14 million to a woman who suffered catastrophic medical complications, including permanent infertility, after consuming ice cream contaminated with metal nails and fragments.
The verdict, totaling $14,147,525.39, was awarded to Brandy Buckley following a multi-year legal battle against Bruster’s Real Ice Cream and Malabar Creameries. The decision concludes a case centered on a 2018 incident that Buckley’s legal team argues highlights a systemic failure in food safety protocols.
The incident occurred in 2018 when Buckley purchased a butter pecan ice cream cone at a Bruster’s location in Palm Bay. While driving home, Buckley swallowed what she initially believed to be a pecan.
“When I did swallow, I did feel something in my throat that kinda got stuck,” Buckley stated in an interview with WESH 2. “I never once thought it was a nail.”
Upon discovering a long metal nail remaining in the cone, Buckley sought emergency medical attention. Hospital X-rays confirmed she had swallowed a nail, and a subsequent endoscopy revealed two additional metal shards embedded in her intestines.
The physical trauma necessitated invasive intestinal surgery to remove the foreign objects. However, the procedure triggered a series of medical crises, including the development of a life-threatening blood clot. To treat the complications, doctors performed an ablation—a procedure that ultimately left Buckley permanently unable to conceive.
The impact of the injury was compounded by Buckley’s personal history; she had expressed a deep desire to grow her family after the tragic loss of her daughter in 2011.
“Everything that I would’ve wanted, I can’t have,” Buckley said following the verdict.
Buckley’s attorneys, Scott and John Alpizar of Alpizar Law, filed the negligence lawsuit in 2019. Throughout the proceedings, Bruster’s and Malabar Creameries denied the allegations, at one point filing a response in 2020 that accused Buckley of negligence.
The jury rejected the defense’s arguments, finding the corporations liable for the presence of industrial hardware in a consumer product.
“This verdict reflects the seriousness of the harm our client endured and ensures accountability at all levels,” said John Alpizar. “This case highlights the critical importance of food safety and the responsibility that both local operators and national brands have to protect consumers.”
While the $14.1 million award covers medical expenses and significant “pain and suffering,” Buckley’s counsel emphasized that the outcome is primarily about holding major food brands to a standard that prevents similar “mistakes” from occurring in the future.
