Atlanta Personal Injury Law Blog

Georgia residents who frequent zoos or work at one know that injuries can result through contact with animals. In December 2018, an intern at a North Carolina zoo was killed by a lion that left its enclosure. On January 26, a Toledo Zoo volunteer was seriously injured when a 14-year-old male orangutan grabbed her hand through a mesh enclosure, detaching her thumb in the process.

Two paid staff members were present with the volunteer in an area in which the orangutans were eating, which is not accessible to visitors. The incident was over in a matter of seconds, and there was no danger to the public. The volunteer went to the hospital for treatment, and the injury was deemed to be not life-threatening.

When you are hurt in an accident that was not your fault, you could find yourself facing medical bills, physical injuries and other complications that can have a long-term effect. As a victim, you may understand that you have the right to seek compensation through a civil claim. You may not know what your options are, however, if your accident took place in a parking lot. 

Accidents that take place in parking lots are rather common, and often, they do not result in serious damage or injuries. However, there are times when a seemingly minor collision results in injuries that are quite serious and debilitating, especially when a car strikes a person who is walking. Inattentive drivers are the reason for many parking lot accidents, and this can be particularly dangerous for pedestrians and other motorists. 

Willie Sutton, the notorious bank robber, is famous, although perhaps incorrectly so, for having responded to the question of why he robbed banks with the line, 'Because that's where the money is." Similarly, many crimes are committed at or near the vicinity of ATMs located on the exterior of banks. If the ATM itself is hacked or a customer is assaulted, those are crimes for Georgia law enforcement agencies to deal with. But there may be another legal course of action for the customer to pursue.

Under the concept of premises liability, the bank or financial institution is required to maintain the premises where its customers come to do business in a safe manner. A failure to do so may expose the bank to civil liability for whatever injury or damages were sustained by its customers. Legal experts report that in some instances there may be a federal or state law that addresses the issue, and a violation of that law could lead to the bank's liability, but other circumstances could do so as well.

Zoos in Georgia or anywhere in the U.S. are meant to be safe places where visitors can see and learn about wildlife. However, accidents can happen. On Dec. 28, a 22-year-old intern lost her life after a lion escaped a locked area at a North Carolina zoo while she was routinely cleaning the animal enclosure. The 22-year-old was a recent graduate of Indiana University working at the zoo in order to develop her career in animal care. She had been employed there for around two weeks at the time of the incident.

In a statement, the zoo said that the intern was part of a professional team led by a trained keeper carrying out routine maintenance of the area when one of the lions escaped from the area where it was apparently locked. It entered the area with the humans, attacking and killing the woman. After the incident, the lion was ultimately shot and killed by local sheriff's deputies. According to the zoo, it is not yet clear how or why the lion escaped the enclosure or if the area was negligently maintained.