Can I Sue a Bar or Nightclub if I Was Injured Due to Inadequate Security?

 Posted on August 03, 2021 in Personal Injury

When you visit someone else’s property, including a commercial establishment such as a bar or nightclub, the property owner has a legal duty to protect your safety. If you are injured in one of these locations, you may be able to hold the property owner liable through a premises liability lawsuit. Inadequate or negligent security is one common reason that injuries may occur at a bar or nightclub. By showing that the owner of an establishment did not take the proper measures to ensure that patrons were safe from harm, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries and damages.

Injuries Caused by Negligent Security

In many cases, injuries at bars or nightclubs are intentionally inflicted by someone else rather than being accidental. When disagreements or arguments arise between patrons, bar fights may break out, and one person could seriously injure another, or an innocent bystander may be caught in the middle. To prevent these types of injuries, an establishment should have the proper security staff who are trained in how to prevent or break up fights, remove people who are aggressive towards others, and ensure that bystanders are not injured because of overcrowding or the presence of objects that could be used as weapons.

The patrons of a bar or restaurant may also be exposed to the risk of injury while outside of an establishment. Assaults or robberies may occur if the proper security is not provided. Inadequate security may include a lack of security cameras to monitor a building’s exterior or security guards to patrol the area, as well as insufficient lighting in parking areas.

To successfully recover compensation through a premises liability claim, a person will need to show that the property owner owed them a duty of care, such as the duty of an establishment to protect the safety of its patrons. A person will also need to show that the property owner failed to take action to address reasonably foreseeable issues that could threaten a person’s safety, and this negligence was a direct cause of the person’s injuries. For example, if a bar regularly hosts live music acts with large audiences, the owner may be liable for injuries that occurred because they failed to hire enough security staff or provide training on the proper crowd control methods.

Contact Our Elgin Premises Liability Lawyers

If you have been injured at a bar or nightclub, the lawyers of Ariano Hardy Ritt Nyuli Richmond Lytle & Goettel, P.C. can investigate the circumstances of your injury and determine whether negligent security was to blame. We will provide you with legal representation, helping you hold the owner of the establishment responsible for the damages you have suffered. To set up a free consultation, contact our Kane County personal injury attorneys today at 847-695-2400.

Source:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2048