Washington Court: No Cheesecake Factory Shooting Liability for Unforeseeable Gunfire

• Larisa Sopka was shot in the leg at a Cheesecake Factory in Tukwila, Washington, during an argument between other patrons in May 2022.
• A federal judge is overseeing negligence claims against The Cheesecake Factory, with the overall lawsuit still active and a trial scheduled for April 2026.
• Claims against Allied Universal Security Services, the mall's contractor, are also part of the ongoing case, with their contract limiting patrols to common mall areas, not tenant spaces.
• The court found no evidence that Allied Universal had a duty to protect restaurant patrons or knew of the specific threat.
• The ongoing case highlights the high bar for establishing foreseeability in premises liability cases involving third-party criminal acts in Washington state.

This decision underscores the high bar for establishing foreseeability in premises liability claims, particularly when involving unpredictable third-party criminal acts.

In May 2022, Larisa Sopka sustained a bullet wound to her leg while dining with her daughters at The Cheesecake Factory, located within the Westfield Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, Washington. The injury occurred when a firearm was discharged during an altercation between other patrons inside the restaurant. This unexpected act of violence led Sopka and her daughters to file a lawsuit in January 2024, initially naming the mall and The Cheesecake Factory as defendants.

The plaintiffs subsequently amended their complaint to include Allied Universal Security Services, the mall's security contractor, as an additional defendant. The core of their legal challenge asserted that all parties had failed in their duty to maintain a safe environment, despite what they described as a history of significant criminal activity and violence in the mall area. They argued that better security protocols should have been in place to prevent such an incident.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein is overseeing the ongoing legal proceedings in the case involving negligence claims against The Cheesecake Factory. While there may have been earlier rulings on specific motions, the overall lawsuit remains active, with a trial currently scheduled for April 2026. Judge Rothstein's earlier considerations highlighted that while there was evidence of "unruly and loud behavior" preceding the incident, there was no prior history of such conduct escalating to gun violence within the establishment. Consequently, the court determined that the restaurant staff could not have anticipated the gunfire on the evening of May 31, 2022, with sufficient time to intervene or provide an earlier warning than the shout of "gun" that occurred.

This case underscores the high bar for establishing foreseeability in premises liability claims, particularly when involving unpredictable third-party criminal acts. The court found no basis to hold The Cheesecake Factory responsible for an event that, despite some preceding disturbance, lacked any direct or historical precedent for gun violence in that specific setting, thereby limiting the scope of Cheesecake Factory shooting liability in Washington.

Claims against Allied Universal Security Services are also part of the ongoing lawsuit being overseen by Judge Rothstein. The court found that Allied Universal's contractual agreement with the mall stipulated that its personnel were responsible for patrolling the general mall premises but were not required to enter tenant spaces unless specifically requested. Since the shooting transpired inside The Cheesecake Factory restaurant, the security company did not have a contractual obligation to monitor or patrol within that specific area.

The ruling further clarified that there was no evidence suggesting Allied Universal had assumed responsibility for the safety of The Cheesecake Factory's customers, nor that the company knew or should have known of the specific threat that led to the shooting. While Allied Universal may have been aware of other criminal incidents, such as car thefts or general violent acts at Southcenter Mall in the past, this awareness did not translate into a duty to prevent the specific, unforeseeable event inside the restaurant. Furthermore, no evidence indicated that Allied Universal failed to respond to a call for assistance related to this particular incident.

This Judge Barbara Rothstein negligence ruling provides significant clarity on the stringent requirements for proving foreseeability in premises liability cases involving criminal acts by third parties in Washington. The plaintiffs had argued that the mall was a site of "scores of crimes," including assaults, shootings, carjackings, robberies, and domestic violence, well before the May 2022 incident, and cited an employee's comment to local news that "literally anyone can walk in and shoot a gun. We don’t have security or someone guarding the door." However, the court differentiated between general awareness of crime in the broader mall environment and the specific foreseeability of a shooting inside a particular tenant's establishment.

The decision emphasizes that a business's duty to protect against criminal acts is not limitless, especially when there is no specific prior warning or a contractual obligation for internal security. For a negligence claim to succeed in such circumstances, plaintiffs must demonstrate that the specific harm was not only possible but also reasonably predictable by the defendant, a standard that was not met in the Sopka v Cheesecake Factory case, which is still pending.

This ruling highlights the high bar for establishing foreseeability in premises liability claims involving unpredictable third-party criminal acts, particularly when a business lacks specific prior warning or a contractual duty for internal security. Lawyers advising businesses on security protocols or defending against negligence claims should note this precedent regarding the limits of a business's duty to protect against unforeseeable criminal acts, especially when security contracts define specific boundaries of responsibility.

Source: Original reporting via Courthouse News