Posecai v. Wal-Mart Stores
Citation and Court
752 So. 2d 762 (La. 1999), Supreme Court of Louisiana
Facts
Posecai was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club store owned by Wal-Mart in a high-crime area of New Orleans. She sued Wal-Mart, arguing that the store owed a duty to protect business invitees from foreseeable criminal attacks by providing security guards in the parking lot. Evidence showed only one prior robbery on the premises in the preceding six-and-a-half years but a much higher crime rate in the surrounding area.
Issue
Whether a business owner has a duty to protect customers from third-party criminal attacks on its premises, and if so, what standard determines the scope of that duty.
Holding
The court held that a business owner owes a duty to protect customers from foreseeable third-party criminal acts, applying a balancing test, and that on the facts the crime was not sufficiently foreseeable to trigger the duty because there had been only one prior robbery on the property.
Rule / Doctrine
A business owner’s duty to protect invitees from third-party criminal acts is determined by a balancing test weighing the foreseeability of harm against the burden of imposing a duty. Foreseeability is assessed by looking at the frequency and nature of prior criminal incidents on or near the premises. The greater the foreseeability, the greater the duty.
Significance
Posecai is a leading case on the duty of business owners to protect customers from third-party criminal acts. It adopts the balancing/foreseeability approach over the “prior similar incidents” and “totality of circumstances” tests, and is widely used to illustrate how courts evaluate landowner liability for criminal acts of third parties.