Kenneth Byndom v. Waffle House, Inc.

── Kenneth Byndom v. Waffle House, Inc. ── Case No.: 25-11410 Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: April 03, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-11410 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 04/03/2026 Page: 1 of 20 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-11410 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ KENNETH BYNDOM, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus WAFFLE HOUSE, INC., a Foreign Profit Corporation, EAST COAST WAFFLES, INC., a Foreign Profit Corporation, Defendants-Appellees, ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 6:23-cv-01971-JA-LHP ____________________ Before JORDAN, KIDD, and BLACK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 25-11410 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 04/03/2026 Page: 2 of 20 2 Opinion of the Court 25-11410 In the early morning of July 30, 2022, Kenneth Byndom en- tered a Waffle House restaurant where he got into an argument with Waffle House employee Kevin Edwards. The argument ended with Edwards stabbing Byndom in the face. Byndom sued Waffle House, Inc., and East Coast Waffles, Inc. (collectively, “Waffle House”), asserting that Waffle House was liable based on Edwards’s actions under Florida law. The dis- trict court granted summary judgment to Waffle House on all of Byndom’s claims. Byndom appeals that decision. After review, 1 we affirm the district court’s grant of sum- mary judgment to Waffle House. I. BACKGROUND We recount the facts underlying Byndom’s claims, accept- ing his version of events where there is a dispute except when Byn- dom’s version is contradicted by the surveillance video evidence submitted in this case. See Baxter v. Roberts, 54 F.4th 1241, 1253 (11th Cir. 2022) (citing Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372 (2007)). On July 30, 2022, Edwards was working an early-morning shift as a server at a Waffle House restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida, with his supervisor, Chynna Nembhard, and coworker, Amanda 1 “We review a district court’s decision on summary judgment de novo and apply the same legal standard used by the district court, drawing all inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and recognizing that sum- mary judgment is appropriate only where there are no genuine issues of ma- terial fact.” Sutton v. Wal-Mart Stores E., LP, 64 F.4th 1166, 1168 (11th Cir. 2023) (quoting Smith v. Owens, 848 F.3d 975, 978 (11th Cir. 2017)). USCA11 Case: 25-11410 Document: 41-1 Date Filed: 04/03/2026 Page: 3 of 20 25-11410 Opinion of the Court 3 Palmese. At 4:52 a.m., Byndom entered the restaurant with his girlfriend and two of her friends. 2 Byndom approached the counter and began speaking with Edwards, complaining that he had been denied service at another Waffle House restaurant. During this in- itial interaction, Byndom gesticulated with his hands to some ex- tent. 3 The employees took the orders of Byndom and the others and began preparing their food, during which time Byndom was apparently calm. After a fe