Premises liability lawsuits are filed when an injury or fatality occurs during the attendance of a public event or location. New York premises liability lawyers Levy Konigsberg LLP confirm that when the applicable owner fails to protect patrons with adequate security, this is also known as a negligent security liability.
Recently it was reported in Verdict Search that a man was shot and killed outside of a nightclub in Tucson, Arizona. The incident arose after a fistfight broke out during a concert, thereby cutting short the event, which was held at a venue called Scrappy’s. After the crowd dispersed into the street, a man went to his truck and retrieved an AK-47 assault rifle. He then tried to re-enter the club. The crowd wrested the weapon away from the man, who was able to make his way back to his vehicle where he retrieved another firearm, which was used to fatally injure another of the attendees at that night’s performance. The fact that the crowd, not onsite trained security personnel, had to wrestle the firearm from the assailant is a preliminary indicator that there were grounds for a premises liability lawsuit due to negligent security.
The parents of the deceased man filed a lawsuit against the shooter as well as Our Town Family Fun Center where Scrappy’s is located. The security negligence lawsuit charged the property holders, on whose premises the shooting took place, with not providing adequate security for the event.
Commenting on this news story, and subsequent premises liability lawsuit, Alan J. Konigsberg, a partner and New Jersey / New York premises liability lawyer for Levy Konigsberg LLP said that “Nightclub owners are responsible for providing adequate safety for their patrons. It is reprehensible that some owners neglect to do their utmost to safeguard their premises by employing properly trained security people. If the owners of a place where people congregate – e.g. malls, parking lots, clubs, etc. – forgo implementing a robust security plan and, as a result, a violent crime takes place on their property, the victim or their family may have the grounds for filing a premises liability lawsuit.” Even more reprehensible is that property owners will sacrifice the safety and well-being of the public, and often paying patrons, simply to lower their expenditures by cutting costs on security. Negligence lawsuits are common from small towns all the way to large events hosted in major cities such as New York. Premises liability lawyers commonly agree that if a property owner had allocated a higher security budget, usually a very small percentage of the profits, injuries, and deaths due to negligence could have easily been avoided.
The New Jersey and New York premises liability lawyers of Levy Konigsberg LLP are experienced in handling premises liability lawsuits. Colleges and Universities may also be liable for sexual assault on campus. For more information, please call (212) 605-6200.