Franco

INTRODUCTION

Anthony R. Pineda and Diane Franco (Parents) sued, among others, Star World Plaza (Plaza), the Plaza’s owners George Younan and Ratiba Younan, and Wayne Ng,1 the Plaza’s property manager, for negligence, premises liability, and wrongful death, after the Parents’ son, Anthony V. Pineda (Anthony), was killed during an armed robbery while he was working as a security guard and receptionist at an unlicensed marijuana dispensary in the Plaza. The Landlords moved for summary judgment, claiming they owed no duty of care to Anthony because the armed robbery was not foreseeable and, in any event, the Parents could not prove the lack of additional security measures contributed to Anthony’s death. The court granted summary judgment in the Landlords’ favor, and the Parents appealed. Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude the Landlords owed Anthony a duty to provide minimally burdensome security measures—a reinforced security door and commercial grade lock—inside the dispensary. We also conclude there is a triable issue of fact concerning whether the Landlords’ failure to provide these security measures contributed to Anthony’s death. We therefore reverse the…