Premises liability action brought by three victims of shooting is summarily dismissed

Three men were shot in the back after a brief run-in with five other individuals at a nightclub called "Mandy's" in Wayne County.  They brought suit against the bar, arguing that the club was run negligently by its corporate owner, Atmandee Enterprises, LLC.  In particular, they alleged that the security officer in attendance should have responded after they warned him of the verbal altercation with the eventual shooters, and that if he had responded, the shooting would not have occurred. 

The Court of Appeals held that under recent decisions by the Republican majority of the Michigan Supreme Court, the warning given to the guard did not constitute a "risk of imminent and foreseeable harm" and therefore he and the corporation owed no duty to take action.  Despite the fact that the guard had been advised of the incident and told that there might be "trouble," the appellate judges concluded that there was "no prior warning" that a shooting was about to occur.  Therefore no viable claim could be instituted against the bar or its guard under Michigan law.

The appellate court also held that even if the bar was knowingly harboring armed patrons, such knowledge would not impute any duty to the bar or its employees to protect other patrons.