Top Premises Liability Judgments
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Large Scale Loss, Premises Liability. A white umbrella against a red background. A cartoon of a red man in front of a grey apartment building, a red woman in front of an office building, and a red man in front of a store front.
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SPEAKER: An apartment building, a bus company, a retail store, these businesses might be completely different from one another, but each of them has something in common-- they are confronted with the unexpected. See, a premises liability lawsuit can come from any direction and, unfortunately, not only are they happening more and more frequently, but the settlements they result in have the potential to be more and more devastating to businesses.
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A cartoon of a red man holding a box looks at a store with a "Closed" sign on its front door. Red dollar signs float away from the building. A cartoon shopping cart rolls through a parking lot in front of a parked car and then gets knocked over, spilling its contents onto the ground.
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In the case of a retail store, a woman got hit by a car in the parking lot of the store. She initially sued the driver of the vehicle, but then added the business to the suit due to a lack of proper signage.
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At trial, the retail business was ordered to pay over $43 million.
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In the case of an apartment building, a student attending a party in the building fell through a gap in the building's fire escape.
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The fire escape staircase drops down and a speaker and a cup fall through it. Streamers and balloons are on the railing.
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The fall resulted in partial paralysis and other injuries for the woman, and a verdict of $37 million was delivered against the building's owner.
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An animated check for millions of dollars. An animated covered bus shelter with four seats next to a bus stop sign.
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In the case of a bus company, one of their bus shelters collapsed during a sudden wind gust and pinned a pedestrian underneath. She was injured, and a verdict of more than $148 million was delivered.
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You never expect that the worst could happen to your company, but that's why you prepare for the unexpected.
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Losses like these may exceed the limits of your existing insurance policy, costing far more than just your deductible.
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Protect your business from the risk of large premises liability verdicts with Travelers' solutions and expertise.
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Travelers. Travelers.com/largeverdicts. A white umbrella against a red background.
Protecting the public and considering their safety in and around property you own and manage is essential when establishing a premises liability risk management program. Travelers can help protect your business from large-scale losses, like these that topped the National Law Journal’s Top 100 Verdicts.1
Faulty Pedestrian Shelter
$148 Million Verdict
A 760-pound fiberglass pedestrian shelter became unhinged by a gust of wind at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and fell to the ground, pinning a 24-year-old woman underneath. She suffered major permanent injuries, including one to her spinal cord that resulted in paralysis.
The City of Chicago was sued for improper maintenance of airport facilities.
Customer Assaulted by a Convenience Store Thief
$81.9 Million Verdict
A man unwittingly entered a Washington State convenience store while a robbery was in progress. The robber, fleeing the store, entered the man’s car which had been left open in the store’s parking lot. When the man came face-to-face with the robber, he was violently and repeatedly attacked with a baseball bat.
The victim sought damages for severe skull and brain injuries, alleging that the company that owned the store failed to properly train store personnel in robbery and violence prevention. The victim’s compensatory damages award is the largest for one person in the state’s history.
Lack of Traffic Signage
$44 Million Verdict
A 78-year-old woman was struck by a vehicle while walking to her car in a parking lot. The woman initially sued the driver but later added the business owner to the suit for failing to have proper traffic signage in the parking lot.
The jury found shared responsibility – 75% for the business and 25% for the driver – as well as finding the business grossly negligent.
Faulty Fire Escape
$37 Million Verdict
When a 22-year-old student attending an apartment party fell through a gap in a fire escape onto a second-floor roof, she suffered spinal and other injuries. Paralyzed from the waist down, she requires the use of a wheelchair and help from a daily aide.
The apartment building’s owner was sued for negligent maintenance of the property and failure to comply with a 1928 law mandating safe stairway standards.
Ski Slope Collision
$19 Million Verdict
PVC pipes, intended to protect a ski lift’s access area, became the site of an injury for a novice skier. A young girl collided with the pipes and badly injured her leg. Impairment of her leg’s physical development compounded the injury, requiring future surgeries.
The ski area was found negligent for not marking the pipes according to safety requirements.
This material does not imply that coverage exists for any particular claim or loss under any insurance policy or bond issued by Travelers. Coverage depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss, all applicable policy or bond provisions, and any applicable law.
Sources
¹ The National Law Journal’s 2016-2021 editions of the Top 100 verdicts in the United States. The verdicts summarized above do not involve Travelers insureds.
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