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."

Leslie Ortiz versus Apple by Mike Wuerthele on Scribd

33 Comments

racerhomie3 1264 comments · 7 Years

About 6 years ago

What is wrong with these people?
Do they think money grows on trees?

mknelson 1147 comments · 9 Years

Was this an exercise by the Apple Store or was it set up by the Mall?

eriamjh 1761 comments · 17 Years

This was an exercise in poor judgement.

Mike Wuerthele 6901 comments · 8 Years

mknelson said:

Was this an exercise by the Apple Store or was it set up by the Mall?

It appears by the mall, given that it was surrounding the opening of a restaurant nearby -- but even the legal filing isn't clear on that. We're trying to get confirmation.

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

Hey, if you get trampled in an Apple Store, it's not unreasonable that you sure Apple for damages. This hardly seems different from the fact that you can sue me if you hurt yourself if you trip over an uneven paving stone walking up to my front door. This is just how common law torts work.

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.