By Gina Tabonares
Variety News Staff

THE U.S. government paid $22,500 in settlement money to a couple who filed a $1 million damage suit for allegedly suffering injuries while shopping at a U.S. Navy commissary in 2003.
The U.S. District Court of Guam dismissed the civil case filed by Martha Lavarias and Walter Lavarias against the U.S. government and K Cleaning Services after the federal government agreed to pay $22,500 in full settlement of any claims that were filed on Jan. 10, 2005.
The complaint stemmed from the personal injury lawsuit filed by Martha Lavarias after she slipped and fell while inside the Orote Point Commissary, a shopping facility operated by the Department of Defense Commissary Agency.
Facts of the case stated that the couple from California was shopping in the Guam commissary on June 23, 2003 when the aisle in front of the cooking oil display was not properly maintained and monitored for spills.
Martha Lavarias stepped in a puddle of cooking oil and fell. As a result, Lavarias sustained a fractured tibia with tendon and ligament damage.
When the couple filed for relief, they asked the federal court to order the payment of $1 million for the personal injury, to pay for past and future medical expenses of the plaintiff, and for the loss of consortium claim of Walter Lavarias in an amount to be proven at trial.
They also asked for the payment of the costs of the lawsuit.
However, in a stipulation signed by U.S. government representatives and the plaintiffs, both parties agreed to settle and compromise for all the compensatory and exemplary damages.
The parties also agreed to each bear their own costs, fees and expenses and attorney’s fees owed by the plaintiffs to the law office of Atty. Robert L. Keogh.