Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Punched at movies - who to sue

You may have a cause of action for failure to protect from foreseeable criminal act. Most importantly you may find that you have TMJ which results in headaches and other symtoms from the punch to the jaw. Contact me directly. 19 years experience.

Re: Punched at movies - who to sue

Try suing the guy in the hood. Theater is not liable unless they knew of his violent reputation from before and, despite that, allowed him entry.

Re: Punched at movies - who to sue

I agree with Mr. Cohen. Of course, in order to win such a suit you will have to prove that the theatre should have recognized your assaillant, which will be very hard to do if you have no idea who he is.

Negligence involves breach of a legal duty the defendant owed to the plaintiff. The theatre has no legal duty to install security cameras. Further, businesses which install such cameras usually do so for their own benefit and not that of their customers. Even if you can show that prior experience gave the theatre a legal duty to keep this man out for the sake of its patrons you will have a hard time pinning much of the fault on the negligent theatre as opposed to the assailant himself.

Businesses are not strictly liable for the wrongful conduct of their customers, nor should they be.

Finally, your injury is relatively small and probably would not justify anything beyond a small claims action against the theatre even if you had a strong claim. Unless either your injury proves to be more serious or you can identify the man who hit you (and unless he has money), you should probably let the matter go.

Re: Punched at movies - who to sue

You should have definitely filed a criminal report and you might be able to get something out of the theater just to avoid litigation; I would hope this type of thing doesn't happen that often there.

Re: Punched at movies - who to sue

Sounds like a criminal matter to me, not a civil one. Call the cops, make a report.