Restaurant Worker Shot And Killed During Armed Robbery At Shopping Center With Inadequate Security

DISCLAIMER: The results are specific to the facts and legal circumstances of each of the clients’ cases and should not be used to form an expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients in similar matters without reference to the specific factual and legal circumstances of each client’s case.

Our clients were the Estate and Survivors of a restaurant worker who was shot and killed in a shopping center in Central Florida.  As with every case in Florida where someone is killed due to the negligence of another, the Florida Wrongful Death Act dictated the categories of damages available in this case.

Negligent Security Claim

We pursued this case on the theory that the owner and manager of the shopping center, and a security company they had hired to actually perform security services, had provided inadequate security to the the patrons and workers in the shopping center.

Through our own investigation, and the use of an expert witness, we were able to show that this particular shopping center was in a very high crime area, and that security should have been beefed-up in several ways for the protection of patrons and workers.  We were able to show that the owner and manager were well aware of prior attacks and shootings at the shopping center but never increased the security presence.

Our Clients Lost — (Temporarily)

This case actually had to be rescued from virtual disaster, as the judge assigned to this case actually granted summary judgment in favor of all of the Defendants in this case, and essentially kicked this case out of court.  After some persuasive brief-writing and oral argument, we were able to convince the sitting judge to reverse himself and allow the case to continue on.

This was not the only challenge we faced.  Discovery revealed that our decedent was actually a foreign citizen who had overstayed her original VISA by over a decade by using an assumed name.  She had not been to her home country, or seen her husband and children in person for over 10 years.  Still, there was evidence that she spoke with her family members very frequently by phone, and sent thousands and thousands of dollars to loved ones while she working here.  Under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, the decedent’s surviving husband, sons, niece, and mother, all had claims for damages.

Despite all of the many challenges in this case, we were ultimately able to collect a total of $280,000.00 for the survivors.

$280,000