Lawsuit Stupidity

According to online court records, Gil Harrington and the estate of Morgan Harrington have filed a lawsuit against Regional Marketing Concepts Inc., which operates under the name RMC Events. RMC provides security at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.

Morgan Harrington was attending a Metallica concert at John Paul Jones Arena the night she disappeared. Police have said at some point, Harrington left the arena. When she tried to reenter, security guards refused to let her back in, citing a no-reentry policy.

According to The Roanoke Times, the lawsuit is for $3.5 million. It was filed on October 11.

I would like to know just what parents think they are responsible for, and how they blame a public venue for enforcing a well known policy.  Everyone who attends events of this nature knows there is a one-way-door policy.   You go out, you stay out.  The fact that a young woman decided to leave, wander outside and hitchhike is far more problematic than a guard doing their job. 

I feel for the parents, this loss must be devastating.  Also the fact that this bears on them would be painful, but no less factual.  The reality is, just because you drop your child off does not mean the adults around them are responsible for them.  In this case, the victim was a young but legal adult.  It reminds me of a local lawsuit several years ago that came from a woman who dropped her eight-year-old son off at a bookstore at the mall and left him unattended for at least four hours.  The boy was kidnapped and assaulted, and the woman tried to sue the bookstore for failure to prevent him from leaving.  This is the same principle.  Nobody could have forced Morgan Harrington to stay on the premises.  The unfortunate reality is that when a person puts themselves at risk, sometimes the risk leads to injury or death.  Morgan was 20 years old, a legal adult and responsible for herself.  I am not saying in any way that she deserved to be a victim, but I am saying she is the only one responsible for the decision to leave and put herself in harm's way.  We should be able to walk around at night and not fear for our safety, but reality is quite different.

Anger is the first reaction for most people who find themselves grieving.  It's been long enough now that the parents should advocate smarter choices, speak out to young adults who don't realize the possibilities that come from their actions... and in turn teach responsibility by demonstrating an understanding of their liability, Morgan's liability, and the lack of liability of the arena who had no legal options in allowing her to walk away.