A Tennessee couple was left with “serious bodily injuries” when a set of taxidermied antlers came crashing down on them as they tried to enjoy a steak dinner, according to a six-figure lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
Dennis and Patricia Swartz are seeking $150,000 each over the freak occurrence, which took place earlier this month at a LongHorn Steakhouse in the Nashville suburb of Madison.
“On February 8, 2025, Plaintiffs were dining at the LongHorn Steakhouse referenced above when a decorative object made of wood and antlers (referred to hereafter as ‘decorative object’), detached from the wall and fell onto the Plaintiffs due to it being improperly and inadequately secured to the wall of the premises,” the pair’s complaint states. “Both Plaintiffs suffered severe personal injuries and damages as a result of this incident.”
The Swartzes also say they have further endured lasting “mental anguish” in the aftermath, according to the complaint.
In their complaint, which was filed initially last week in state court before being removed to Nashville federal court on February 19, Dennis, 54, and Patricia 59, argue that management at the LongHorn location in question “knew or should have known” that the antlers were “improperly and inadequately secured to the wall of the premises.”
LongHorn, and parent company Darden Restaurants – the Orlando-based national behemoth behind Olive Garden, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Ruth’s Chris and others – were “negligent in that they failed to notify, caution, or warn the Plaintiffs of the unreasonably dangerous condition existing on their premises,” the complaint contends.
It says the antlers “thereby pos[ed] an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of injury and harm” to the Swartzes and “others” there, and blames LongHorn for the “serious bodily injuries” and related issues the two claim to have sustained.
“Such injuries have greatly hindered the life of the Plaintiffs,” according to the complaint, specifying not only pain and suffering, but loss of companionship and consortium with one another, as well as an overall “loss of enjoyment of life.”
The Swartzes’ complaint does not lay out precise details of their injuries. However, taxidermy, especially antlers, have been responsible for grievous harm in the past.
In 2019, a New York man was nearly blinded when a stuffed deer head fell off a shelf in his garage and one of the antlers pierced his eye. Surgeons were able to save train conductor Matthew Dzierzanowski’s sight, but said his was one of the most extreme trauma cases they had ever seen.
That same year, a nine-month-old girl suffered a traumatic brain injury when a deer mount fell from the wall of her family’s home and the antlers punctured her skull. Her present condition is unclear, but doctors were not optimistic she would ever make a full recovery.
Last August, a Massachusetts woman sued a South Boston cocktail lounge after a deer head mounted on the wall reportedly fell on her head, allegedly causing a brain bleed and post-concussive symptoms that lingered for months. Plaintiff Kathryn Hally’s complaint said the deer head was “negligently installed and/or maintained.”
Dennis Swartz is demanding $125,000 for compensatory damages and $25,000 for loss of consortium damages, which the complaint says is a “fair, just and equitable amount.”
Patricia Swartz is demanding the same.
Both sides are scheduled to attend an initial case management conference on May 29, before District Judge Aleta A. Trauger.
A Darden spokesperson, as well as the attorney defending the company against the Swartzes allegations, did not respond on Monday to requests for comment.
