News Flash: $3.8 Million Verdict Against Kmart After Customer Beaten By Security Guard

A state appeals court has upheld a jury’s $3.8 million award to a dentist who suffered a career-ending injury when he was beaten up by a Kmart security guard. The ruling provides a dramatic example of how you can be liable for misconduct by your employees. Problems started when George Heimer tried to return a telephone to Kmart’s Newark store and a man sporting earrings, a nose ring, a studded leather jacket and a shirt with a picture of a skeleton grabbed him from behind. The man identified himself as a Kmart security guard only after he had slammed Heimer against the store’s glass doors and wrestled him to the ground. Heimer charged that Kmart hired the guard based on an incomplete employment application, failed to investigate his prior experience, and didn’t adequately train or supervise him. Although there was a dispute over who was the aggressor in the incident, the jury found the retailer negligent.