Overview
- A Brevard County jury found Bruster’s national franchisor and its Palm Bay shop liable and awarded Brandy Buckley more than $14 million.
- Buckley said she bought butter pecan at the Palm Bay store in 2018 and unknowingly swallowed nails and metal fragments in the ice cream, causing internal injury.
- Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove a nail and several metal pieces, and her attorneys say later complications included portal vein thrombosis, internal bleeding, and an ablation that led to permanent infertility.
- The lawsuit was filed in 2019 and went to trial in March 2026 after years of litigation in Brevard County.
- Bruster’s had not provided comment to reporters at publication, and Buckley’s attorney said he expects the company to appeal the verdict.