Apple sued for $15,000 over injuries sustained in Apple Store evacuation drill
Not long after the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Fla., a botched evacuation during an active shooter drill at the Florida Mall Apple Store location led to injuries -- and now a lawsuit.
Both Apple itself and the Apple Store in Orlando's Florida Mall have been named as defendents in a new lawsuit filed this week by a Florida resident named Leslie Ortiz.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the suit alleges that the store showed negligence in handling an evacuation drill in August of 2016, which was carried out in conjunction with the inspection for the opening of a nearby restaurant. The "realistic" drill, which included an alarm, "included officials popping six balloons to mimic the sound of gunfire."
Ortiz, and the rest of the shoppers, were first given instructions to lie down on the ground. According to the filing, they were then told to immediately get up and leave the store, which led to a rush to flee that injured nine people in the chaos, including Ortiz.
The balloon sounds were especially concerning, according to the account, because the Pulse mass shooting, in which 49 people died and many more were wounded, had taken place in the same city just two months eariler, and at least one person present in the store had lost friends in that tragedy.
Authorities said the injuries as a result of the drill resulted in "mostly falls, scrapes and twisted knees."
Ortiz, alleging that Apple "failed to have adequate staff on hand and failed to warn customers," seeks a jury trial, and "unspecified money award in excess of $15,000."
Both Apple itself and the Apple Store in Orlando's Florida Mall have been named as defendents in a new lawsuit filed this week by a Florida resident named Leslie Ortiz.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the suit alleges that the store showed negligence in handling an evacuation drill in August of 2016, which was carried out in conjunction with the inspection for the opening of a nearby restaurant. The "realistic" drill, which included an alarm, "included officials popping six balloons to mimic the sound of gunfire."
Ortiz, and the rest of the shoppers, were first given instructions to lie down on the ground. According to the filing, they were then told to immediately get up and leave the store, which led to a rush to flee that injured nine people in the chaos, including Ortiz.
The balloon sounds were especially concerning, according to the account, because the Pulse mass shooting, in which 49 people died and many more were wounded, had taken place in the same city just two months eariler, and at least one person present in the store had lost friends in that tragedy.
Authorities said the injuries as a result of the drill resulted in "mostly falls, scrapes and twisted knees."
Ortiz, alleging that Apple "failed to have adequate staff on hand and failed to warn customers," seeks a jury trial, and "unspecified money award in excess of $15,000."
Leslie Ortiz versus Apple by Mike Wuerthele on Scribd
Comments
Do they think money grows on trees?
What I find interesting is Apple is everywhere in this legal filing referred to as "Apple Computer Inc. [doing business as] Apple, Inc." This suggests that when Apple changed it's name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc., they didn't really. They just file some d/b/a/ paperwork somewhere, but their incorporation papers still have the original name. Just an interesting tidbit, of no practical significance.
yes yes, it was intended!
I understand doing evacuation drills. Apparently my work has to do so many evacuations a year to comply with some fire ordinance.
I don't get popping balloons, though. Especially not in a drill involving the public. It's almost like they were trying to create panic. If they needed to have a simulated shooting, someone shouting "BANG!" would at least have made it obvious it was a drill. When taken by surprise, a loud bang is a loud bang, you don't necessarily process it properly.
It's hard to really fault the lawsuit. If they were injured because the Apple staff weren't properly trained for the situation, or because they did something wrong, it's appropriate to seek recompense from them. If the court finds the Apple staff aren't to blame, then they'll dismiss it.
It would be dumb to do it when there's no customers as that makes for a pointless drill that doesn't really show how things would really be. Is popping balloons a little overboard? Maybe, but it's the world we live in and Fire is not the only danger, especially at places that have gathered a lot of people in a small area like a Apple Store. There's also a lot of blind Apple haters. Seems like a really prime location. You also can't just warn the staff of a shooting drill and get them ready and in position for the drill to happen as again, that wouldn't be a real-world drill and wouldn't happen if it was the real thing.
People panic and do things that hurt themselves and others. If anything it goes to show that we just don't do enough drills. Anyone remember Fire Drills in school? I do many, many years ago, back in Elementary School when they did drills and we all exited the classroom calmly and to outside where we all lined up in rows with the teacher in the front and checking to make sure everyone was there. It's these things kids should be learning when young so so they know how to react as adults and not panic and trample people down.
I work in a PK-12 school district and we do fire drills and lockdown drills. Some are announced, while others are not. There are even lockdown drills where the Sheriff and State Police show up just as if it were something real. You have to do them to prepare in case something happens. You never know and you have to know what to do. This saves lives in the end...so if someone got a scrapped knee thats a hell of a lot better than being shot to death or watching someone else being shot to death or whatever.
No, you can't...unless, you can see an Apple store from your window.
(fixed that for you.)