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Legal Aspects Of Health Care Administration 11th Edition by George Pozgar
Edition 11ISBN: 978-0763780494Legal Aspects Of Health Care Administration 11th Edition by George Pozgar
Edition 11ISBN: 978-0763780494 Exercise 4
Facts
The plaintiff, a nurse anesthetist, arrived at the hospital at approximately 5:25 am. After parking her car and before she shut off the engine, a man jumped into the driver's seat and began to drive off. The nurse jumped from the car but her attacker caught her and started to beat her. An employee pulling into the parking lot saw what was happening and alerted security. The plaintiff suffered a broken left wrist, 12 teeth either knocked out or broken, severe bruises on her face, and cuts on her legs and knees. She also suffered mental distress from which she had not recovered.
The nurse sued the owner of the parking lot and the security force for breach to protect her from a criminal attack committed on the premises. The trial court found that the defendant had a duty to provide reasonable and adequate security in the parking area and that it had breached this duty. The plaintiff was awarded $733,000, and the defendant appealed.
Issue
Did the hospital breach a duty by failing to adequately patrol its parking lot?
Holding
The court of appeals affirmed the decision for the plaintiff, finding that the hospital breached its duty to the employee by failing to patrol the parking lot.
Reason
The hospital took on the responsibility of maintaining a security force to cover the parking lot. As such, the hospital assumed liability, giving a warranty that, through employment of a security service, their work would be carried out in a nonnegligent manner. The evidence indicated that other witnesses had seen the attacker in or near the parking lot 5 hours earlier in the day, yet no security personnel spotted him. Further, there were not enough security officers on duty that day to adequately patrol the parking lot. If they had been patrolling properly, the court concluded that the criminal would have been discovered and the attack prevented. The court found that the security force breached its duty by negligently failing to provide adequate security, which should have included random patrolling of all of the areas. After the attacker was reported to security earlier in the day, nothing other than a brief walk through the lot was done.
Discuss the required duty to care and how it was breached in this case.
The plaintiff, a nurse anesthetist, arrived at the hospital at approximately 5:25 am. After parking her car and before she shut off the engine, a man jumped into the driver's seat and began to drive off. The nurse jumped from the car but her attacker caught her and started to beat her. An employee pulling into the parking lot saw what was happening and alerted security. The plaintiff suffered a broken left wrist, 12 teeth either knocked out or broken, severe bruises on her face, and cuts on her legs and knees. She also suffered mental distress from which she had not recovered.
The nurse sued the owner of the parking lot and the security force for breach to protect her from a criminal attack committed on the premises. The trial court found that the defendant had a duty to provide reasonable and adequate security in the parking area and that it had breached this duty. The plaintiff was awarded $733,000, and the defendant appealed.
Issue
Did the hospital breach a duty by failing to adequately patrol its parking lot?
Holding
The court of appeals affirmed the decision for the plaintiff, finding that the hospital breached its duty to the employee by failing to patrol the parking lot.
Reason
The hospital took on the responsibility of maintaining a security force to cover the parking lot. As such, the hospital assumed liability, giving a warranty that, through employment of a security service, their work would be carried out in a nonnegligent manner. The evidence indicated that other witnesses had seen the attacker in or near the parking lot 5 hours earlier in the day, yet no security personnel spotted him. Further, there were not enough security officers on duty that day to adequately patrol the parking lot. If they had been patrolling properly, the court concluded that the criminal would have been discovered and the attack prevented. The court found that the security force breached its duty by negligently failing to provide adequate security, which should have included random patrolling of all of the areas. After the attacker was reported to security earlier in the day, nothing other than a brief walk through the lot was done.
Discuss the required duty to care and how it was breached in this case.
Explanation
Verified
Verified
A nurse anesthetist was attacked by a pe...
Legal Aspects Of Health Care Administration 11th Edition by George Pozgar
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