Trujillo

A fast-food restaurant hires a security guard to protect its patrons. Some youths threaten a patron of the restaurant in the presence of the security guard. A fight ensues in which the patron is injured.

Under such circumstances there is a duty on the part of the restaurant to protect its patron and there is a triable issue of fact as to whether the security guard acted reasonably. The injured patron need not prove the restaurant had notice of prior similar acts.

Oliver Trujillo, by his guardian ad litem, Maria Carreno, (Trujillo) appeals from the summary judgment granted to Victoria Court Management and G.A. Enterprises, Inc., which does business as McDonald’s Restaurant (McDonald’s). Trujillo was attacked inside a McDonald’s restaurant. We reverse the summary judgment.

Facts

One afternoon, Trujillo and a friend walked to the McDonald’s restaurant in Victoria Court on State Street in Santa Barbara. As they walked, they noticed a group of kids “hanging out” in front of McConnell’s Ice Cream shop near McDonald’s. It was not, unusual for kids, panhandlers and others to be milling about on the sidewalk in the area, and Victoria Court Management had a security guard on…