Cheesecake Factory shakes off liability for shooting at Washington mall

A dispute between nearby diners left Larisa Sopka with a bullet wound in her leg.SEATTLE (CN) — A mother who was struck by a bullet while dining with her daughters at a Cheesecake Factory in Washington state failed to convince a federal judge that the restaurant and the mall’s security company were liable.Larisa Sopka and her daughters were dining at the Cheesecake Factory at Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila in May 2022 when chaos erupted in the restaurant. Nearby patrons in the midst of an argument fired a gun, and the bullet struck Sopka’s left leg.But on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein found the Cheesecake Factory could not have reasonably anticipated the shooting and dismissed the plaintiffs’ negligence claims.“Rowdy table behavior at The Cheesecake Factory had never in the past led to gun violence of any kind, and it was not reasonable for the staff to have anticipated that gunshots would be fired in the restaurant on the evening of May 31, 2022 in sufficient time to have prevented it or provided any earlier warning than the shout of ‘gun’ that occurred that night,” Rothstein, a the Jimmy Carter appointee, wrote.In January 2024, Sopka and her daughters first sued the mall and the Cheesecake Factory in January 2024, accusing both of failing to safeguard the premises despite “rampant crime and violence.” In an amended complaint, the plaintiffs added the mall’s security contractor, Allied Universal Security Services, as a defendant.But Rothstein also dismissed the claims against the security company. Under its contract with the mall, Allied Universal patrols the premise of the mall, but employees were told not to go into a tenant space unless specifically requested.The shooting occurred inside the restaurant and the security company didn’t have a contractual duty to monitor or patrol inside the Cheesecake Factory.“The evidence does not support a finding that Allied had any control over security for the restaurant that would create a duty to protect the plaintiffs in the restaurant from a criminal act, even if it were foreseeable,” Rothstein wrote.There was evidence before the court of “unruly and loud behavior” inside the restaurant, but Rothstein found it insufficient to establish that gunfire was imminent.“There is no evidence that Allied assumed responsibility for the safety of The Cheesecake Factory customers, there is no evidence that Allied knew or should have known of the specific threat, even though it may have been aware of car thefts or other violent incidents that had occurred at Southcenter Mall in the past, and there is no evidence that Allied failed to respond to a call for assistance,” Rothstein wrote.The Sopka family had claimed the mall was the site of “scores of crimes, including assaults, shootings, carjackings, robberies, thefts, and instances of domestic violence” since well before the May 2022 incident.The plaintiffs contended the restaurant, security company and mall all failed to implement appropriate security protocols, noting one of the Cheesecake Factory’s employees who worked at the location of the shooting told local news that “literally anyone can walk in and shoot a gun. We don’t have security or someone guarding the door.”None of the parties responded to a request for comment before press time.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads