Virginia's Supreme Court on Oct. 31 overturned a jury decisionthat found Virginia Tech University negligent in the 2007 massacreat the school in which 32 people were killed.
|A Montgomery County Circuit Court jury found last year that thestate university had been slow to issue a campus warning as theshooting spree unfolded.
|The trial judge had instructed the jury that there was “specialrelationship” between the school and slain students Julia Pryde andErin Peterson, since the women were “business invitees” of theuniversity. The women's families filed the wrongful deathlawsuit.
|In rejecting the decision, the Supreme Court said that “even ifthere was a special relationship between the Commonwealth andstudents of Virginia Tech … there was no duty for the Commonwealthto warn students about the potential for criminal acts by thirdparties.”
|The jury had ruled that the families of Pryde and Petersonshould be awarded $4 million each. The Montgomery Countycourtreduced the amount to $100,000 each, in line with the cap onawards against the state.
|The two students were among 32 people were killed before thegunman, Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho, committed suicideafter a two-hour rampage on the university's Blacksburgcampus.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- All PropertyCasualty360.com news coverage, best practices, and in-depth analysis.
- Educational webcasts, resources from industry leaders, and informative newsletters.
- Other award-winning websites including BenefitsPRO.com and ThinkAdvisor.com.
Already have an account? Sign In
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
