Media & Insights
May 19, 2023
Plaintiffs were assaulted at a football game by other attendees and sued the premises manager, the football team, and the University of Southern California. The premises manager and the football team obtained summary judgment on grounds that plaintiffs could not show that defendants’ failure to take additional security steps was a substantial factor in causing the assault. Plaintiffs appealed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed. The court noted that causation in a non-medical context requires plaintiff to introduce evidence showing that “ ‘ “it is more likely than not” ’ ” that the “ ‘ “[defendant’s] conduct . . . was a cause in fact of the result,” ’ ” and that the plaintiff must therefore “ ‘prove it was “more probable than not” that additional security precautions would have prevented the attack.’ ” The court held that the trial court did not err in granting defendants’ motions for summary judgment because plaintiffs’ allegations consisted of “ ‘abstract negligence’ ”—a “bare claim that more security personnel could have prevented a criminal attack.” Causation, the court held, requires “direct or circumstantial evidence showing that the assailant took advantage of the defendant’s lapse or omission ‘in the course of committing his attack, and that the omission was a substantial factor in causing the injury.’
