Lot Lines: Disaster lessons for property owners
Last Updated on Sunday, 27 August 2023 02:54 Written by Chris Griswold Monday, 20 June 2016 02:49
Courtesy the Journal Record
by Ted Streuli
There were two tragic incidents in Orlando, Florida, this week: the mass shooting at a nightclub that left 50 people dead and a 2-year-old killed by an alligator on Disney property.
I asked Oklahoma City attorney Chris Griswold what commercial property owners and managers can do to limit their liability in such extraordinary circumstances.
The property owner might not have liability in the nightclub shooting, but it’s something an owner would like to prevent. Oklahoma allows licensees to carry firearms, but Griswold said that can be prohibited by a commercial landlord. The owner or his agent must post a sign saying guns are not allowed on the property, and it then applies to any part of the privately owned building that’s open to the public. That means if it’s posted, no one except law enforcement officers can carry a gun into reception areas, elevators, hallways, dining spaces or other public places.
There are exceptions, Griswold explained. Landlords can’t prohibit gun owners from locking their weapons in their cars parked on the property, and they can’t prohibit a tenant whose office is not open to the public from carrying a gun if he can enter without passing through a public space.
For multifamily housing, there would have to be a stipulation in the lease.
Carrying a gun into a privately owned building that prohibits firearms is not a criminal act. The landlord may order the person off the premises; if he doesn’t comply and the police are called, he can be fined $250. The penalty isn’t stiff, but landlords and their property managers who have posted the appropriate sign have the right to remove people who are armed.
As for the alligator incident, Disney’s lawyers have likely been hunkered down, frantically looking for a way to minimize the company’s liability. As Griswold noted, the whole point of Disney is to entertain families with children, and the company has a responsibility to do so in a safe manner.
The family assumed no risk of a gator attack, and they may argue that no reasonable person would expect an alligator to come after a child on theme park property. Disney could have marked the dangerous area or hired a company to remove the alligators. At the very least, they could have posted warning signs.
Having warned the public that a danger exists, said Griswold, can help mitigate the liability when something goes wrong.
