Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Jessie Zeigler published an article in Security Management on the litigation risks facing security firms and what they can do to help protect themselves. Certain establishments, such as hospitals and other medical facilities, are seeing an increase in workplace violence, leading to the need for increased security on their premises.
“Hospitals often hire security companies to protect their workers, patients, and visitors. But if an act of violence results in an injury or death during a security company’s watch, recent cases indicate that the company may find itself named as a defendant in a resulting lawsuit,” Jessie said.
In highlighting this rising litigation risk for security providers, Jessie referenced a recent case, Scott Amaral v. Universal Protection Service LLC et al., in which a healthcare worker sued a hospital’s security firm after an assault by a psychiatric patient. The worker alleged the security officers were negligent by not preventing the incident and failing to respond immediately.
Apart from healthcare settings, security firms can also face increased litigation risk when working event security and retail stores.
Among the best practices to mitigate risk for security companies and the businesses who hire them is to collaboratively implement an incident response plan and a system of auditing compliance in place before an incident occurs.
The full article, “How Security Companies Can Protect Themselves from Litigation,” was published August 19 in Security Management and is available online.