Lawyers - Public Attorney -McGinn, Carpenter, Montoya & Love, P.A.

McGinn & Carpenter, Campbell, Montoya & Love, P.A

Katie Curry

Eldridge v. Circle K Corp., 123 N.M. 145 (Ct. App. 1997).

New father Paul Salazar was shot and killed while working alone on the graveyard shift at a Circle K convenience store with inadequate security. The New Mexico Court of Appeals held that his surviving daughter would be allowed to bring a claim for his death outside the Workers' Compensation Act in state district court. The case settled for enough to take care of his daughter for the rest of her life. Paul’s family later testified before the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and helped establish state wide regulations requiring convenience stores to enact numerous security measures, including having 2 clerks on the graveyard shift or placing lone clerks behind bulletproof enclosures.

Past successes cannot be an assurance of future success because each case must be decided on its own merits.

Rummel v. Lexington Ins. Co., et al., 123 N.M. 752 (1997).

As a clerk for Circle K convenience store, Ken Rummel was required to work alone on the graveyard shift and confront and attempt to apprehend shoplifters. Three shoplifters beat him and kicked him in the face until he suffered extensive brain damage. After the jury gave Mr. Rummel a substantial verdict against Circle K, including punitive damages, this New Mexico Supreme Court case allowed us to pursue Circle K’s insurance carriers for bad faith in failing to protect the company by paying a reasonable settlement offer before trial.

Past successes cannot be an assurance of future success because each case must be decided on its own merits.

State Convenience Store Regulations

As a result of working with many employees and families who have been victims of violent crime including sexual assault at late night retail establishments, the firm has been a pioneer in promoting and lobbying for legislative and regulatory change to make these stores safe. Randi McGinn began championing this cause over 20 years ago, beginning with the Rummel case. In many our premises liability cases, we have been successful in making security improvements (such as interactive video) a term of the release. In 2004, following a State of New Mexico administrative proceeding in which the firm’s attorneys and clients testified about the danger posed to employees and customers from lax convenience store security, the New Mexico Department of the Environment passed regulations that will require convenience stores to have two clerks on staff during the late night shift, to provide real security training to employees, to improve lighting, to provide meaningful security surveillance, to provide panic alarm buttons to all employees, and to provide other safety measures that have been proven in other states to dramatically reduce the incidence of violent crime in convenience stores. We look forward to the day when late night retail establishments like convenience stores simply do not pose a risk of injury, sexual assault, or death to New Mexico citizens.

Past successes cannot be an assurance of future success because each case must be decided on its own merits.