Bowser v. The Fieldhouse, et. al.
Feb 28, 2011OUTCOME: Confidential Settlement
On November 1-2, 2008, Dean R. Bowser, was a patron at Public Sports Bar LLC’s, restaurant/bar, known as the FieldHouse, located at 1150 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a verba ... l discussion with the bartender over a credit card processing problem, Mr. Bowser was grabbed from behind by FieldHouse bouncers, taken to the ground, and held against his will. While on the ground, in an apparent attempt to control Mr. Bowser, FieldHouse employees, including the bartender (who jumped over the bar), punched, kicked, and struck Mr. Bowser. A FieldHouse bouncer then made the decision to remove Mr. Bowser. The bouncer picked Mr. Bowser up off the floor and rushed him out the front entrance of the FieldHouse. While being grabbed, pushed, and forced out of the premises, Mr. Bowser’s left arm struck a large plate glass window pane, which was part of the construction of the front door. Mr. Bowser’s left forearm broke through and shattered the window pane, causing a severe laceration which immediately began to bleed. Mr. Bowser was rushed by ambulance to Thomas Jefferson Hospital. Dean R. Bowser filed a lawsuit in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania alleging: (i) negligent hiring, retention, supervision (against the FieldHouse), (ii) premises liability (unsafe construction of the door against the FieldHouse), (iii) assault and battery (against individual employees and the FieldHouse), (iv) false imprisonment (against individual employees and the FieldHouse), and (v) general security negligence (against the FieldHouse). From the discovery produced and deposition testimony, it is apparent that Mr. Bowser suffered his only serious injury (laceration to left forearm) while being removed from the premises. Mr. Bowser claims that his arm injury was caused solely by the negligent manner in which the bouncers removed him from the premises. Mr. Bowser’s security expert, Russell Kolins, opined that although it appears that the bouncer removed Mr. Bowser using reasonable force, he did so in an unsafe and negligent manner. The FieldHouse did not have any company policies or procedures established for security or for the safe removal of a person from the premises. The only policy that the FieldHouse had in existence was to call a manager if there was a problem. The bouncers ignored this policy and removed Mr. Bowser in an unsafe manner. Mr. Kolins stated that any of the employees in the area could have simply opened the exterior door before Mr. Bowser was forced through.