Traumatic Brain Injury and Spine Injury Verdict in Security Case
On January 23, 2009, a woman I will call “Sally,” was enduring the Las Vegas Recession with her husband “Bill.” It was very hard. Their home was foreclosed and they were forced to live in a Budget Suites on Rancho Boulevard in North Las Vegas. The area had high crime activity and Budget Suites was an open-style campus. They moved into Budget a month earlier.
On the particular Friday morning, Sally woke early and stepped out of her small 2 room unit to smoke a cigarette. While standing outside of her unit she was brutally attacked by a trespasser. She does not remember the specifics of the attack but recalls being hit in the face. Her teeth were knocked out and she remembers seeing them with blood pouring out of her mouth while on her knees on the ground.
At the instant she was attacked, Sally’s dog, who was locked in the bedroom portion of the unit with Bill who was sleeping, began barking and trying to scratch her way to where she heard Sally’s attack. This caused the would-be burglars to flee the scene. They were never found or identified.
Budget Suites did not have adequate security. No security cameras, fences, gates, or patrols and only one security officer on the 17 acre campus.
Sally sustained traumatic brain injury and spinal injury in the attack and is permanently unable to walk without the assistance of a walker. Sally and Bill’s lives have been dramatically changed since January 23, 2009.
I became involved in the couple’s case later that year. Budget Suites denied responsibility for the injury and forced the couple to file a lawsuit. The medical bills for Sally exceeded $300,000 and Budget only offered $15,000 to compensate her. The trial began over two and a half years later and lasted five weeks. The couple was awarded over $4,000,000.
Congrats on the outcome Tim. I hope you can get the matter resolved for your clients without a long and protracted appeals process.