Sexual Assault Victim Secures $3.8Million Award Against Apartment Complex For Apartment Complex Fitness Center Sexual Assault

Many sexual assault cases don’t make the front page of the news. This is, in part, because not many sexual assault cases go all the way to trial and secure a large jury award, but rather settle out of court. However, in late summer last year, an egregious sexual assault premises liability case in Atlanta, Georgia, made it all the way to the jury, and the female victim plaintiff secured a significant and large award.

Law.com reports the creepy and harrowing facts surrounding the female sexual assault survivor’s case. The female sexual assault survivor lived at the Brookhaven Apartments apartment complex in Dekalb County, Georgia. The female sexual assault survivor was sexually attacked and assaulted at the apartment complex’s fitness center after she left the fitness center following her workout. According to reports, the female sexual assault survivor was visible to the sexual assault attacker through the fitness center’s windows because it was after dark and the room where she was working out was light from the inside. The sexual assault attacker, was, therefore, able to surveille the female sexual assault survivor without her knowledge while she was in the gym, and then was able to make his moves to attack and sexually assault her as she left. The female sexual assault victim was able to produce compelling evidence in court that there had been previous reports to the apartment complex regarding burglary, armed robbery, forced entry, indecent exposure, and auto theft, and that the apartment complex’s management had failed to warn residents about these dangerous incidents. In addition, the female sexual assault survivor claims that the apartment complex’s management failed to provide adequate security to keep residents at the apartment complex safe.

According to the report, the female sexual assault survivor sought counseling following the sexual assault attack, but the damage to her was minimized by the defendant apartment complex company due to the fact that the female sexual assault victim was able to fight off her attacker “before the rape was completed.” The jury in the case disagreed with the defendant, and after only an hour and a half returned with a verdict against the apartment company owner. After negotiating a “high-low” agreement, the defendant agreed not to appeal the $3.8million award in the case. Initially, they had offered only $150,000 to settle the case before trial.

Help in Houston for Sexual Assault Survivors 

Sexual assault survivors in Houston should know that there may be remedies under Texas laws against not only their attacker, but business and property owners that should have prevented a sexual assault attack. In Houston, the Gilde Law Firm helps sexual assault survivors get just compensation for their injuries after a sexual assault. If you have been sexually assaulted in Houston contact the Gilde Law Firm for a free and confidential consultation to learn about your rights and to see if the experienced Houston sexual assault sex crime lawyers at the Gilde Law Firm can fight for you to get justice in your case. Contact the Gilde Law Firm today and speak to a lawyer about your case free of charge.

Source:

law.com/dailyreportonline/2022/08/24/dekalb-jury-awards-3-8m-for-woman-attacked-in-apartment-complex/?slreturn=20230103190119