Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Shopping Centers and Premises Liability (Part A)
Massachusetts premises liability lawsuits can be filed against shopping centers for many reasons related to security and personal injury.
When inadequate safeguards are in place, criminals have free access to malls and parking lots where shoppers are most vulnerable.
Reasons for Premises Liability Lawsuits
Robbery, physical and sexual abuse, and even suicide are often the motives for violent confrontations. Consumers are also open to injury by gang or crowd activity.
Recent personal injury and wrongful death claims at shopping malls include:
- Carjacking, robbery and murder of a Florida woman and her young daughter
- Kidnapping and assault of a woman and her young son at the same mall
- Trampling of an employee by uncontrolled shoppers entering a New York store
- Sexual assault of an employee, following an unreported pattern of rape at a Texas mall
- Death at an escalator to a 4-year-old boy at a Massachusetts mall
If you or a loved one were the victims of violent crime while shopping or parked on mall property, inadequate security provisions by the owner may be to blame.
Owners and managers of commercial property are legally bound to anticipate the possible dangers to customers and to try to prevent them. When unavoidable crimes and injuries take place, it is their duty to alert the public, so that they can take their own safety measures.
Stores Protect Themselves from Premises Liability When They Protect You
While property owners have a humanitarian and legal duty to consumers in safeguarding the premises, adequate security is also a safeguard from litigation. That’s what the responsible parties discovered-too late-after a string of violent crimes in malls across the country.
If that mall had employed surveillance cameras or other personal protections before the violent crimes occurred, they would have been safe from court-ordered damage payments. Had their customers been safe or made aware of existing danger, premises liability lawsuits against them would have been thrown out of court.
The lack of basic safety measures may be grounds for claims of negligence against the property owners. If you or your loved one was injured in an incident in which security seemed faulty in Boston, Massachusetts, you should consult with personal injury attorney that specializes in premises liability issues.
Continue to Shopping Centers and Premises Liability (Part B) >>
