Tort Law
Okla. Supreme Court Rules Hospital May Be Liable for Attack in Garage
A divided Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a nonprofit hospital may be liable for a parking garage attack.
A nurse sued after she was kidnapped from the garage at St. John Medical Center and driven to another location where she was raped, the Journal Record reports. One security guard was responsible for watching 30 monitors throughout the facility and did not notice the rapist was circling in a van with license plates covered by duct tape.
The nurse had offered evidence showing several crimes had occurred in the garage. The court ruled 5-4 that businesses may be liable if they are aware of a pattern of crimes on their premises and fail to take protective steps.
