Bouncers Can Only Enforce Security Within Limits
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
One of the things that Florida is well known for is the night life in some our more lively cities. When the weather is warm, and the night is young, it’s natural for people all ages and persuasions to want to go out, meet some new people and have a good time. But of course, sometimes things don’t always go the way we plan. Sometimes, things can even get out of line as a result of the wrong word to the wrong person who is too drunk to really understand the consequences of his or her actions.In some cases, violence can break out in a bar or club, and some nightspots have employees—known colloquially as “bouncers”—who are there to do just one thing; maintain order in the club. They do this usually by attempting to deescalate or break up fights, though sometimes, if there’s no reasoning with a drunk patron, there’s no other choice but to attempt to safely subdue the offender and remove him or her from the location so that other customers don’t get hurt.
So how exactly does this work? Does a bouncer have any special legal privileges compared to average citizens? Or is there the usual negligence and criminal laws in place?
Ordinary Negligence Is Still In Effect
One thing that all customers to a bar or nightclub can safely assume is that the normal legal protections for negligence still apply with regards to the environment. This means that if there’s a spilled drink that the staff don’t clean up, and you slip on it, if you sustain an injury from that, you have the full right to seek the services of a slip and fall lawyer and start working on a personal injury lawsuit in civil court. This also means that if you get into an altercation with another patron at the bar or club, and it degenerates into violence, normal assault and battery charges may apply, depending on the severity of the incident.
In other words, when you take the bouncer out of the equation, a bar, nightclub or other nightlife facility is subject to the same laws as other public spaces like shopping malls. And this means all your legal rights with regard to a safe experience are also intact.
When it comes to a bouncer, things may get slightly murkier, but not as much as you’d think.
Still A Civilian
A bouncer does not have any special legal privileges with regard to law enforcement. This means that, as large and as intimidating as some bouncers may appear, they have no legal right to arbitrarily inflict violence on someone else. Even if that person is drunk, shouting and making a general nuisance, a bouncer still has no legal right to resort to conflict.
Legally, in the event that a dispute occurs, a bouncer must first attempt to deescalate the situation by trying to talk down the crisis, or separate the parties involved. If things become more serious, management is obliged to call the police for an official response. In none of these situations does a bouncer have any legal right to engage in violence.
However, if a bouncer is struck first by an assailant, then the usual self defense laws apply. The bouncer may freely fight back when struck first. The bouncer is also free to use force if an unruly patron is acting violently against others.
So it’s important to remember, if you are in a situation where you have done nothing violent, but have been struck by a bouncer regardless, that is a violation of the law. In such an instance, both the bouncer and the establishment the bouncer works for may be taken to court to face a civil lawsuit.
Get The Right Legal Help
If you’ve had a bad experience in one of Florida’s night clubs or bars where you or someone you know was injured by a bouncer, it’s very important to have a clear picture of the events. Even if you had been causing some disruption, as long as that disruption wasn’t violent, a bouncer had no legal right to physically harm you.
If you have a clear recollection of events, or, better yet, witnesses and/or recorded footage of the incident to reinforce your claims, you don’t have to simply accept that you were hurt at a bar or night club and write it off as just a bad night. You can get justice if a bouncer breached their legal obligations and hurt you when they had no right. Get the help of a personal injury lawyer in St. Petersburg and we can give your case a free assessment to see whether the circumstances you’ve experienced qualify you to get compensation in a court of law. Get the justice that you deserve.