Damaien Chapman v. Yakima Valley Community College
Published: Mar. 8, 2001 | Result Date: Oct. 26, 2000 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 992020307 Arbitration – $30,661
Facts
The plaintiff was a college student at Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) at the time of his injury. The
plaintiff contended that he was assaulted while in his locked dormitory room, where another YVCC student
unlocked the dorm with a master key and beat the plaintiff around his head. The plaintiff had been in his room
talking to a female YVCC student with whom the assaulter had recently broken up. The assaulter had obtained
a master pass key out of the residence assistantÆs room. The resident assistant failed to lock her door when she
went to bed and left the pass key on her desk.
The plaintiff also contended that YVCC breached its obligation to provide security in the dorm. YVCCÆs
handbook stated that it was imperative that the residence assistantÆs master pass key be kept secure.
The defendant argued that it did not owe the plaintiff a special duty of care and that the criminal acts of the
perpetrator of the assault constituted an intervening cause which exonerated of YVCC. The defendant
contended that it was not foreseeable that the perpetrator of the assault would steal a key from the resident
assistantÆs room and then assault the plaintiff.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff demanded $31,000. The defendant made no offer.
Injuries
Multiple facial lacerations with mild pertinent scarring around the left eye, multiple abrasions and contusions to face, mouth and right ear, minor fracture of anterior wall of left maxillary sinus. All of the plaintiffÆs injuries resolved with the exception of mild scarring around his left eye.
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