Mother Files Wrongful Death Suit After Clerk Killed In Robbery

Lawsuits against convenience stores are becoming more common nowadays. These lawsuits are filed by families of former employees of the stores or by the clerks themselves. Most of the allegations involve negligent security. Clerks working in convenience stores are often held up at gunpoint and robbed. Since these stores offer quick cash to would-be robbers, they are prime targets for armed robberies. The employees who work in these stores for minimum wage are on the front lines of the problem. This begs the question: What duty of care do employers owe to employees who work in high-crime locations?

The answer is simple. Employers who operate convenience stores owe the same duty of care to their employees as they do the general public. If it becomes known that security is a problem in the area, then the convenience store is expected to hire security to protect employees and customers. However, most convenience stores don’t want to absorb the added costs.

What happened? 

A man came into the descendant’s store, pulled a gun, shot her, and then stole money from the cash register and a handful of lottery tickets. In case you’re not aware, once the lottery tickets are reported stolen, the serial numbers are voided and they cannot be redeemed. Further, if you attempt to redeem the lottery ticket, it will link your bank to the crime. So in no universe does stealing lottery tickets benefit you in any way. So, we’re not dealing with a person who is considering the consequences of their actions. We are dealing with someone who shoots other people for a handful of cash and steals worthless lottery tickets. In other words, it was a crime of opportunism.

The same location had another employee death prior to this incident.

Vetting your employers 

The situation is thoroughly unfortunate. You may be wondering why the family did not file a workers’ compensation claim. In this case, the company failed to provide compensation to their employees forcing the mother to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the company. No suspect has been apprehended in the shooting thus far. If the man is dumb enough to redeem any winning lottery tickets, that could change.

The shooting occurred in Texas where companies are not required to provide workers’ compensation to employees. However, the trade-off is that they have to handle wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits filed by their workers. But this is obviously a situation where the employer is not looking out for their employees, doesn’t care about their safety, and isn’t doing anything to prevent tragedy. OSHA cited the company for several security problems.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury and Work Injury Attorney Today 

Payer Law files personal injury lawsuits against negligent defendants. Call our Miami personal injury lawyers today to schedule a free consultation and we can discuss your allegations in detail.

Source:

ksat.com/news/local/2022/04/02/mom-of-store-clerk-killed-in-robbery-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-convenience-store/