Graham v. Orlando Lodge No. 1079, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America, Inc.
The Sixth District affirmed summary judgment for a lodge in a negligent security/wrongful death case arising from a third-party criminal shooting, citing Rule 1.510(a) and the McCain foreseeability framework distinguishing duty from proximate cause. Judge Nardella wrote a lengthy special concurrence (joined in spirit by Judge Pratt) calling for the court to articulate a rule for when third-party criminal violence is reasonably foreseeable so as to create a duty, surveying approaches from Michigan, Virginia, New York, and California and noting Florida DCAs are not uniform.
Key facts
- Lodge member Graham was shot and killed by a third party during an incident at an Elks Lodge facility in the Sixth District.
- Graham's estate sued the lodge for negligent security and wrongful death, alleging the lodge failed to provide adequate security measures to prevent the criminal attack.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
Although the disposition is a citation PCA, the special concurrences signal that the Sixth District intends to stake out its own position on the duty/foreseeability standard in negligent security cases and will not… — full analysis with a trial
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