Liability, awards and settlements

8.2, inadequate security, judgment

US: an Atlanta jury issued a $1.7mn judgment against the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) over a case in which a woman was kidnapped from a station parking garage and raped. The woman sued, claiming MARTA did not properly secure its property. The award came a day after the Fulton County Judge blocked MARTA attorneys from mounting a defense. Jurors only had to settle on the amount the transit agency should pay. In an unusual move, the judge said MARTA officials had not played fair with the woman’s attorneys in the years leading up to the trial. He was critical of the transit agency for not being able to produce documents to back up their claim that there were enough police officers on duty the night the woman was abducted from the parking deck of the Lindbergh station in June 2002. MARTA officials say they threw out all police records from 2002 that would indicate how many officers were on duty the night of the crime and where they were posted. They threw out the records because they moved their police precinct and did not want to take old documents. MARTA has a reserve fund to handle settlements and verdicts up to $5mn. The agency’s insurance covers anything larger.