Facts

On Nov. 19, 2015, at 3 a.m., Erika Sepulveda responded to an alarm call at the Money Mart Whittier store she managed, driving there with her mother, plaintiff Maria Sarate, and her two plaintiff children, one 5 years old and the other 5 months old, after trying to contact her district manager. They met with Whittier police who investigated and left. Sepulveda and the other plaintiffs remained to wait for glass repair, first inside the store, and then in their car, where she spoke with Money Mart loss prevention manager Don Morton. The four then went back inside the store, and the burglars returned and forced Sepulveda at gunpoint to open a safe, leaving after four minutes. There was no physical injury to any plaintiff, only claimed emotional injury.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended that Money Mart breached a duty of care to protect them from third-party criminal assault by directing Sepulveda to remain in the security-compromised store located in a "high crime" area, without providing security, and that Mr. Morton said he would monitor them in real time by video while they were inside the store but did not.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendants contended they had no duty to protect plaintiffs, whom Sepulveda brought to the store without their knowledge, because there was no special relationship, and the requisite foreseeability was absent because a burglar's within-hours return to commit a second crime was utterly unheard of per the testimony of all responding officers and plaintiffs' expert. Defendants also contended that they never told Sepulveda to remain, and she could have left at any time had she asked, but she did not; and that Sepulveda never told Mr. Morton she and her family would leave the car, so there was no monitoring need, he was then reviewing video of the burglary to provide to the police, and could not simultaneously watch a live feed, monitoring would not have prevented the immediately incurred emotional harm, and if the police had responded to a 911 call within four minutes, an ensuing hostage situation may have amplified the harm. Defendants further contended that everything was handled routinely, and that plaintiffs' damage claims were inflated, unsupported and/or false.

Settlement Discussions

Plaintiffs demanded seven figures from Money Mart. Money Mart offered $25,000 under FRCP Rule 68, then agreed to a mediator's proposal of $85,000, which plaintiffs rejected. The demand never dropped below $400,000

Injuries

Sarate claimed to be still symptomatic after two years of PTSD counseling. She denied any prior stress, anxiety, medications, depression, or domestic violence, but her medical records revealed otherwise. The 5-year-old boy was treated for PTSD for over a year until his mother, Sepulveda, terminated counseling. His records showed a slow improvement with some residuals. The infant daughter received no treatment.

Result

Verdicts of $12,000 for Sarate; $1,750 for boy; $0 for girl. Sepulveda's claims against defendants were dismissed on summary judgment based on the exclusive remedy doctrine, as she recovered workers' compensation benefits.

Other Information

Defendants' Offers of Judgment exceeded the individual verdicts. Costs and a proposed judgment are currently being litigated. Plaintiffs settled with the Whittier defendants for $340,000.