Baptist
Memorial Hospital v. Gosa (Ala., 1996).
RULE
OF LAW: Hospital did not have a duty to protect P from third party
crimes on the hospital's property because the hospital could not have
reasonably foreseen probable criminal activity.
FACTS:
Wright & Gosa (P), employees of BMH (D), are suing BMH for
negligence, wantonness, and/or willfulness in failing to provide
security. Wright was assaulted in the hospital parking lot
(specifically she was shot in the stomach). Wright elected to and did
receive Worker's Compensation Disability.
HISTORY:
Trial Court ruled for both plaintiffs, and also denied BMH's motion
for a directed verdict. BMH is appealing.
ISSUES(S):
Does a hospital have a duty to P to protect from third party crimes
on the hospital's property?
HOLDING:
For the defendant; reversed. The hospital did not have a duty to
protect P from third party crimes on the hospital's property because
the hospital could not have reasonably foreseen probable criminal
activity.
REASONING:
The court concluded that there was not evidence of a special
relationship in this case because the hospital was not forewarned
about probable criminal activity and the plaintiff was not dependent
upon the hospital to provide basic bodily protection. The court
determined that this crime was not foreseeable by considering the
number and frequency of prior criminal acts in BMH's parking lot. In
this case there had been 57 criminal events in the last five years,
but most of those events were mere thefts and were not violent
crimes. Among the six crimes that involved a physical touching, only
one (this one) involved a gun. This means that there is a per-year
average of only 1.6 crimes involving physical touching. The court
concluded that it could not be "reasonably foreseeable"
that the assault in question would occur. Since the crime was not
foreseeable, BMH had no duty to P to protect her from third party
criminal acts.
DISCUSSION:
Other issues, such as workers' compensation immunity and amending
pleadings were discussed in this case.
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