Brown v. Diversified Hospitality Group

600 So.2d 902 (La.App.4th Cir. 1992)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Joyce was shot during an armed robbery at her employer's restaurant. She was performing her duties as a short order cook. Joyce was the only employee working the graveyard shift. An off-duty police officer Reginald Williams, was in the restaurant having coffee when a masked armed robber entered. The robber stood beside Joyce removing money from the cash register, and Williams confronted the robber and started shooting. The robber escaped uninjured. As a result of the ensuing shoot-out, Joyce was shot in the wrist, arm, and head. P was severely injured and could only claim workmen’s compensation unless she could prove there was an intentional tort on the part of Ds. P sued D for an intentional tort. P alleged that D was repeatedly robbed by armed persons before Joyce was employed, but the restaurant's management took no security precautions to prevent robberies or to protect its employees from harm. Two employees routinely worked the graveyard shift, but that was reduced to one when Joyce was hired. This single employee D's own corporate security policies. P claimed that because of D's intentional acts, it was substantially certain that D would be robbed by an armed person and, as a consequence, it was substantially certain that its employee would be shot and wounded or killed in the process of a robbery. Ds filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Ds and P appealed.