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Murphy v. Second Street Corp.3/23/2001
Murphy and Gnadinger testified that during this exchange there was a member of Rock-It Club's private security staff standing five feet away. Thus, according to Murphy and her own witness, the assault occurred in a crowded and loud bar and without warning. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's ruling that the Corporation did not have a duty to protect Murphy from this unforseeable assault.
Murphy also argues that the trial court erred in dismissing her claim that the Corporation breached its duty to her by failing to detain her assailant and to gather information that could be used to identify her. In her brief, Murphy states:
Appellees failed to detain the assailant of the Appellant once the Appellees and the agents took custody of the assailant. This is not disputed, Appellees employed its said quasi-police force at the time, by stationing two, two hundred fifty (250) pound bouncers at said disc-jockey stand.
In their briefs, the parties spend a great deal of time discussing the law of assumption of a duty and the "Good Samaritan" doctrine. However, we do not believe that these doctrines are applicable. While the Corporation did owe a duty to Murphy to protect her once the threat of injury was foreseeable, by fulfilling that duty it did not assume an additional duty to gather information concerning her assailant. The duty owed to Murphy by the Corporation was to protect her and to prevent her further harm from the unknown assailant once the threat of injury became forseeable, but it did not have a duty to assist Murphy in obtaining information about her assailant so she could pursue a criminal or civil claim.
Murphy readily concedes that she is unable to cite any case law that would support her contention that a club has a duty to detain an assailant and to gather identifying information. In its brief, the Corporation states:
It is not the law that defendants may decline to assist customers who are being attacked by another customer in order to avoid assuming a duty to detain and thereby minimize their liability. Since tavern owners have a duty to assist customers who are being attacked by another customer, plaintiff's "assumed duty" claim is just another way of saying that plaintiff believes that an owner's common law duty of assistance should include a mandatory duty to detain [emphasis original].
It should be remembered that Murphy does not contend that the Corporation failed to fulfill its duty to protect her from further injury once she was struck. The record is undisputed that the security personnel stepped in immediately after the punch was thrown and escorted the assailant off of the premises and attended to Murphy's injuries. We hold that the Corporation fulfilled its duty to protect Murphy from foreseeable physical injury. In fulfilling its duty to protect Murphy from further attack, it did not assume a duty to help her pursue a claim for damages against her assailant.
Having concluded that the trial court's ruling is correct as a matter of law, the summary judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court is affirmed.
ALL CONCUR.
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