Many Florida residents regularly experience situations that sometimes places their safety in jeopardy. Choosing to use an ATM machine in the early hours of the day while in a sketchy neighborhood is sometimes a perilous decision. Likewise, enjoying a drink at an establishment that is well-known for fights erupting between patrons can also prove to be a risky proposition.
If you are the victim of a robbery or a personal attack, you should know that property owners have a duty to keep their establishments reasonably safe for people who are authorized to be there. In other words, a victim may be entitled to sue a property owner for failing to initiate steps to prevent that victim from becoming injured by reasonably foreseeable harmful events.
In a previous article on our internet website, we discussed how property owners can take some measures to increase their customer’s safety. For example, this might be by hiring additional security personnel or by installing bright lighting in common areas such as apartment hallways and grocery store parking lots.
The foreseeability of certain adverse actions often plays a crucial role in determining whether a property owner could have done more to protect a victim. A good example of this occurred in 2011 in Jacksonville, Florida. In that case, a jury found that a security company was partially responsible after a deranged woman shot and killed a pharmacist while under the security company’ protection. A security expert testified that the security company failed to perform a thorough assessment of the potential security concerns the pharmacy faced. This is important to know because at the time the crime occurred two security guards were stationed in parking lots far away from the pharmacy.
If you are a Florida resident who suspects that inadequate security may have played a role in your attack, you may be entitled to seek compensation through a civil lawsuit. You should also know that an establishment may still have some liability even if has implemented some security measures. Particularly, when those measures are not appropriately based on foreseeable risks.
Prospective clients should know that we offer free evaluations on inadequate security cases at our Miami offices. There is no charge to you regardless of whether you want to know if you have a legitimate case or if you are curious about how long the process can take.