Security Company Can Be Sued Over Mall Abduction

(CN) - A woman can sue a security company for failing to protect her after she was abducted from a mall parking lot, a Tennessee appeals court ruled.

Maggie Barron, 65, was kidnapped in the mall parking lot after work by a pair of juveniles. They attacked Barron and threatened to rape and kill her as they drove her car around for hours. Finally, they wrecked the car and ran away.

Barron and her husband sued the juveniles, the mall (which was also her employer), and the security company.

The security company claimed that nobody had previously been carjacked, kidnapped or raped at the mall, but Barron produced police reports detailing dozens of crimes at the mall over a four-year period.

The trial court ruled that the mall, not the security company, was liable for the attack. Judge Highers of the Jackson-based appeals court disagreed.

"The trial court erred in granting summary judgment to (the security company) on the basis that it owed no duty to Mrs. Barron under any circumstances," Highers wrote.

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