Incidents of sexual assault or violent assault in Massachusetts are emotionally and physically devastating to the victim, their family and other loved ones. When the incident could have been prevented with better security, the situation becomes even more confusing and upsetting. Negligent security at Massachusetts shopping malls, Massachusetts hotels, Massachusetts apartment complexes, Massachusetts schools, and Massachusetts parking lots results in hundreds of preventable assaults every year in Massachusetts.
Assault, rape, injury and murder may occur due to negligent security involving:
Lack of or improperly functioning security cameras;
Unlocked or broken locks on gates, doors and windows;
Poorly lit areas, including stairwells and Massachusetts parking garages;
Lack of or inattentive security guards or attendants; and
Failure to conduct thorough background checks on Massachusetts visitors or Massachusetts employees.
While it may not be entirely possible to eliminate the risk of assault, Massachusetts residential managers, Massachusetts property owners and Massachusetts retail owners have a responsibility to prevent reasonably foreseeable dangers. For example, a Massachusetts business that has had problems with customers being mugged in the parking lot should install security cameras and make sure that there is adequate indoor and outdoor lighting. Massachusetts criminals often target victims in areas where they know there is negligent security.
Don’t allow yourself to be victimized. You should always insist on functioning locks on doors and windows in your home or apartment, adequate employee screening at your child’s school, and proper lighting where you do your business. It is the responsibility of Massachusetts school administrators, Massachusetts property managers and Massachusetts property owners to supply the appropriate security to protect those using their facilities from avoidable harm and injury. When such individuals fail to keep you or your loved ones safe, you deserve answers and monetary compensation for your injuries.
Unfortunately, there are numerous Massachusetts locations where negligent security can result in harm or death to a Massachusetts resident. Many Massachusetts residents are assaulted while at a Massachusetts work site or another location where they are acting in a work capacity. In these instances, a Massachusetts employer may be found liable if it is determined that the employer’s negligence in failing to provide a safe workplace resulted in injuries to the employee. For example, if an assailant manages to harm a victim while he or she is at work, and the employer knew that the assailant had exhibited some threatening behavior toward the employee prior to the attack, but took no security measures, the employer may be found liable for failing to take adequate security precautions.
A Massachusetts employer also may be liable for money damages in the event that a Massachusetts resident suffers injury from another co-worker, if it is determined that the Massachusetts employer failed to conduct adequate background checks prior to hiring the attacker. Massachusetts employers are always responsible for maintaining a safe premises for their Massachusetts workers, as well as other visitors to the property, including vendors, customers and business affiliates. A Massachusetts employer thus can be responsible for the injuries sustained by a non-employee if there was a foreseeable threat of violence that the employer failed to remedy that resulted in harm to a non-employee Massachusetts resident.
Other locations that are susceptible to criminal activity, and require adequate security measures to be taken by Massachusetts property owners, include Massachusetts ATM machines and Massachusetts parking garages. Criminals often target robbery victims at ATM machines and other Massachusetts banking locations. Victims are frequently targeted in Massachusetts parking lots because it is easy for the assailant to hide, and individuals are often alone in Massachusetts parking garages. In both of these areas, Massachusetts property owners are responsible for providing adequate safety. Such safety measures may include the hiring of security guards, installing security cameras, providing ample lighting and setting up emergency phones. Owners of Massachusetts parking garages, in particular, are required to take reasonable steps to increase safety because criminal behavior is a known, frequent occurrence in Massachusetts parking garages.
Massachusetts nursing homes and Massachusetts malls are additional locations that Massachusetts criminals often target. Criminals frequently prey on more vulnerable individuals. Unfortunately, such individuals include the sick and the elderly. There are numerous ways that Massachusetts hospitals and Massachusetts nursing homes can act negligently in failing to take appropriate safety measures. Such failures include maintaining a poor security policy; having faulty or inadequate security devices; undertaking insufficient employee training; or having dimly lit exits, entrances, hallways, stairwells and elevators. Massachusetts malls are targeted locations for criminal activity due to overcrowding and the number of exits that can be easily accessed after the commission of a crime. Massachusetts mall owners are held to the same strict standards with respect to maintaining safe premises for customers at all times.
All Massachusetts property owners have a duty of reasonable care to maintain their property in a way that does not pose unreasonable dangers to visitors. A Massachusetts victim who suffers an injury as the result of an attack while on someone else’s property may have an action for money damages under Massachusetts negligent security law. The theory of Massachusetts negligent security has also recently been expanded by Massachusetts courts to include terrorist attacks, cyberspace crimes and identity theft. These claims can arise, for example, when a Massachusetts resident’s personal information is breached by a Massachusetts company or a Massachusetts employer’s computer.
Foreseeable assaults include situations where a Massachusetts property owner has knowledge of prior criminal activities that have occurred on or close to the property. In these circumstances, the Massachusetts property owner has a duty to warn all visitors of the potential dangers associated with the property and to take appropriate precautionary measures. Whether a danger is foreseeable also includes other considerations, such as the location, layout and condition of the Massachusetts property, and whether or not there are other circumstances or conditions that make the Massachusetts premises vulnerable to criminal activity. Massachusetts property owners have the burden of assessing any and all risks associated with their property and acting reasonably to prevent injuries to others.
A Massachusetts resident who has been the victim of a crime that was caused by negligent security must prove that a number of conditions existed at the time that the crime occurred in order to recover money damages. To prove liability, the victim must demonstrate that he or she was lawfully on the property at the time of the attack; that there was a dangerous condition on the Massachusetts property, namely a lack of proper security; that the Massachusetts property owner knew, or should have known, of this danger; that the Massachusetts property owner failed to take reasonable action to decrease or eliminate the risk of danger; that the victim was injured by a third party in a manner that should have been foreseeable by the Massachusetts property owner; and, that the Massachusetts property owner’s breach of the duty to maintain a safe Massachusetts premise directly or indirectly caused the Massachusetts victim’s injuries.
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed because of Massachusetts negligent security, please call our experienced, expert Boston negligent security injury lawyers or expert Boston wrongful death lawyers today at the Law Offices of Gilbert R. Hoy, Jr. and Affiliates at 617-787-3700 or email us at info@gilhoylaw.com. Your needs are our top priority!
We expect Massachusetts schools and Massachusetts college campuses to be safe for their staff, teachers, students and visitors. When someone is hurt or killed at a Massachusetts school or Massachusetts college campus, it is shocking and even more confusing when that injury was caused in part by poor security.
Massachusetts schools are fully responsible for maintaining a safe environment for all of their students and faculty. Massachusetts schools that are located in areas with high crime rates or Massachusetts schools that have a history of assaults on the campus should take all of the necessary precautions to reduce the risk of further dangers and assault. Schools should, for example, provide adequate lighting for students walking around campus at night, as well as sufficient security for school events on and off campus. Massachusetts schools should also conduct in depth background checks on potential Massachusetts employees to ensure that individuals with a history of violence or sexual abuse are not permitted near our loved ones. Furthermore, any threat or sign of violence should be taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated to prevent any foreseeable rape, assault, battery, or murder.
Staying at a Massachusetts hotel or Massachusetts resort should be a time to relax and enjoy oneself. However, when the hotel or resort has poorly managed security, your vacation may become dangerous and even deadly. Massachusetts hotel and resort managers and Massachusetts property owners may be liable for damages to you or your loved one if you were injured or were assaulted due to negligent security.
Massachusetts hotels and Massachusetts resorts have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for their visitors, guests and staff. Preventable violent and sexual assaults can occur if there are not enough supervisory guards, or inadequate lighting, in a parking lot, restroom, pool or other area of the hotel premises. Massachusetts resorts should additionally take the necessary precautions to ensure that hotel keys are kept secure and are not easily duplicated, and that windows and doors have working lock mechanisms, so that assault and battery does not occur from negligent security.
Property owners and managers are required by Massachusetts law to keep their Massachusetts rental properties and Massachusetts residential complexes safe and secure for their tenants. This means ensuring proper lighting and security cameras in stairways, hallways, parking lots and other shared facilities. Providing proper security systems may also require hiring security guards or installing alarms, gates, fences or other security devices.
Massachusetts property owners must take all necessary steps to fully secure their property and make sure that the premise is not vulnerable to violent attacks. Massachusetts property owners, who fail to take the proper precautions, perhaps to cut costs or due to poor budgeting, may be liable for injuries caused by assault to tenants.
Assault and sexual abuse can happen anywhere, especially if security is not sufficient. Some locations where assault or rape can occur include:
Massachusetts parking garages
Massachusetts elevators
Massachusetts buses
Massachusetts subways
Massachusetts planes
Massachusetts college dorm rooms or classrooms
Massachusetts night clubs
Massachusetts movie theaters
Massachusetts nursing homes
If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an assault resulting from negligent security, you are likely experiencing physical and emotional pain. In addition to your physical injuries, violent and sexual assaults can be mentally traumatizing, and may require therapy to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The expert Massachusetts personal injury attorneys, Massachusetts negligent security attorneys and Massachusetts wrongful death lawyers at the Massachusetts Law Offices of Gilbert R. Hoy, Jr. and Affiliates will make sure that you receive the support and treatment you need to help ease your suffering. Our Boston personal injury attorneys will aggressively pursue your Massachusetts negligent security personal injury case to obtain monetary compensation owed to you for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. Our expert Boston, MA negligent security injury attorneys will hold Massachusetts property owners liable for physical assault, personal injury, and wrongful death that their negligence caused to you or a loved one. Our Boston, MA personal injury attorneys collaborate with a network of criminologists, investigators and safety experts to show how negligent security contributed to your damages.
First, our Boston negligent security lawyers work incredibly hard to provide outstanding legal representation for every one of our Massachusetts negligent security clients. As a result of our Boston negligent security attorneys’ extensive legal knowledge, tenacity, determination and wide range of expertise and skill regarding Massachusetts negligent security claims, our Massachusetts negligent security attorneys have an outstanding track record of success and accomplishment for our personal injury clients. Our negligent security attorneys will simply not settle for second best.
Second, our expert Boston negligent security legal advocates, Boston, MA personal injury lawyer specialists and Boston, MA wrongful death lawyer experts always provide our clients with exceptional client service. This is as important to us as the outcome of your negligent security case. Our Boston negligent security law office keeps every client fully informed of the progress of his or her negligent security case. As part of this commitment, all of our negligent security clients are copied on all correspondence from us, and we make it a priority to promptly respond to all phone calls and other inquiries from our clients. Our commitment to client service truly distinguishes us from many other Massachusetts negligent security law firms. The negligent security attorneys at our negligent security legal office never act on behalf of a client without first thoroughly discussing the matter at hand with our client and jointly coming to a decision beforehand. Our negligent security law office endeavors to represent each of our clients in such a manner that ensures that our clients receive the individualized, detailed attention that their unique negligent security case deserves.
Our driving motivations of superior client relations and exceptional legal counsel make us a Boston, MA law firm you can trust and count on.
Your needs are our top priority!
The Boston Law Offices of Gilbert R. Hoy, Jr. and Affiliates is a team of attorneys, including expert Massachusetts negligent security lawyers, from some of the best law offices in Massachusetts who have been personally selected by Attorney Hoy because of their skill, experience and expertise.Many of the Boston, MA lawyers who are available to our clients through referral agreements have been repeatedly selected and recognized as among the very best Massachusetts personal injury accident lawyers.
