The Colorado Supreme Court upheld a jury verdict allowing a female truck driver who slipped and fell on spilled grease at a Greeley, CO, Wal-Mart store to keep a nearly $10 million award.

On the second day of the original trial, 41-year old Holly Averyt’s lawyers found a city document backing up her claim that she fell at the site of a greasy spill at the big box store. Until that point Wal-Mart had told jurors no spill had occurred.

Following her fall, Averyt underwent three spine surgeries, was unable to return to work and lost her truck. The jury awarded her $15 million in November 2010, the largest slip-and-fall judgment in the United States. Wal-Mart appealed and a lower court granted the company a new trial, saying the award was “excessive, not supported by the evidence and could only be the result of prejudice and bias and the jury’s desire to punish Wal-Mart.” Wal-Mart argued that Averyt’s attorneys failed to disclose the city documents.

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday threw out the order for a new trial, saying Averyt’s attorney’s had no requirement to disclose a document that could be easily found in public records. The court also said any prejudice the jury may have harbored toward Wal-Mart was due to its initial refusal to produce evidence or admit the existence of the grease spill. The Justices then reduced the award by about $5 million because of the state’s cap on non-economic damages.

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