The Exception: Florida Ruling Shows Businesses Can Be Liable for On-Premises Attacks

by Raychel Lean

The Fourth District Court of Appeal weighed in on liability in a negligence case that the trial judge had called morally “horrific.”

The Fourth District Court of Appeal Wednesday reversed a summary judgment in favor of a Florida marine equipment and repair company embroiled in a negligence lawsuit, finding the business could be found liable for two on-premises attacks that left a man with a broken neck, facial fractures and nerve damage.

The appellate panel analyzed case law that says property owners do not have a duty to protect an invitee from a criminal attack by a third party, unless that attack was reasonably foreseeable.