Wood Smith Henning & Berman Partner Mindy Bae secured summary judgment in favor of a private security company client in a high-exposure personal injury action arising from a collision between a bicyclist and an automobile at an industrial and commercial business center.
The plaintiff, who was fifteen years old at the time of the accident, was riding his bicycle through the property's parking lot with two friends when an automobile struck him. The driver, an employee who had arrived early for a shift at a UPS mail-sorting facility located within the business center, was allegedly traveling at a recklessly high speed and under the influence of marijuana.
The plaintiff was not wearing a helmet and alleged the collision caused a traumatic brain injury, resulting in continuing cognitive deficits. He sought to hold the client liable on the theory that the security company and its guard owed a special duty to protect members of the public from harm. At the time of the accident, one security guard was patrolling the expansive thirty-acre property on foot.
WSHB moved for summary judgment, arguing the plaintiff could not establish the existence of a legal duty. The defense demonstrated that no special relationship existed between the security company and the plaintiff, there was no evidence of prior similar incidents, and no legal authority supported imposing a duty on a private security company to protect a trespasser from the conduct at issue.
The Alameda Superior Court agreed and granted summary judgment in the client's favor. The court further recognized that extending a duty under these circumstances would expose private security companies to potentially limitless liability for the conduct of third parties across the properties they patrol.
"This ruling draws an important and principled boundary around the duties of private security companies," said Bae. "The evidence did not establish a special relationship, prior similar incidents, or any other basis for requiring a single security guard patrolling more than 30 acres on foot to anticipate and prevent this sudden collision."
The result eliminated substantial potential exposure for the client. Before the court's ruling, the plaintiff demanded $18 million from the defendants and served a $5 million CCP 998 offer.
"Summary judgment was an especially significant result given the severity of the claimed injuries and the multimillion-dollar demand," said Partner Frances O'Meara. "The team kept the focus on the threshold legal question of duty and demonstrated why the plaintiff's theory could not be reconciled with California law."
The ruling resolves all claims against WSHB's client.
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