Aurora theater shooting spawns eighth lawsuit (at least) against Cinemark

By Michael Roberts Fri., Jan. 11 2013 at 8:30 AM

Yousef Gharbi.

Accompanying the main suit is a "notice of related cases" also filed by Aurora's Davidovitch Law Firm, which is representing the Spruels. (The couple were not physically hurt in the attack, but both reportedly suffer from psychological issues as a result of the attack, including but not limited to post traumatic stress disorder.) It notes that the lawsuit is believed to be related to the following complaints:

Denise Traynom and Brandon Axelrod v. Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora 16, 1:12-cv-02514; Joshua Nowlan v. Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora 16; 1:12-cv-02517; Gregory and Rena Medek v. Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora 16, 1:12-cv-2705; and Jerri Jackson v.Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora 16, 1:12-cv-2704; Mary Theresa Hoover v.Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora 16, 1: 12-cv-2706; Dion Rosborough, Ryan Lumba, Tony Briscoe, Jon Boik, and Louis Duran v. Cinemark, USA, Inc. d/b/a Century Aurora16, 12-cv-02687; Ian Sullivan v. Cinemark, USA, Inc., d/b/a Century Aurora 16, 1:12-cv-02900.

Add the Spruels' complaint to the ones above and the total is seven. However, the roster only counts those filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and skips what may be the highest profile suit to date.

In October, as you'll recall, New York attorney Marc Bern, who successfully represented a number of 9/11 first responders, sued Cinemark on behalf of several high-profile survivors of the attack -- among them Farrah Soudani, who got an assist from theCHIVE.com to help defray enormous medical costs associated with the serious injuries she sustained, and Yousef Gharbi, a teenager shot in the head during the assault. But because Bern filed in Arapahoe County District Court as opposed to U.S. District Court, his suit was excluded from the Davidovitch list.

That brings the number of lawsuits against Cinemark to at least eight -- and as seen by the attendance at this week's preliminary hearing in the theater shooting case, there are many more victims who could potentially petition the courts for redress. Clearly, the folks at Cinemark have more to deal with than just next week's theater reopening.

Here's the latest lawsuit.

Spruel v Cinemark

Tags:

Aurora, Chichi Spruel, Cinemark, Derick Spruel, Jesse Childress, lawsuit, theater shooting

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Monkey

If you don't feel safe in public, stay home. I'm pretty sure victims of drunk drivers don't sue the car manufacturer, or the state for providing unsafe roads.

Shanti Klemm

I personally think this is ridiculous. It would have to be proven that the theater was.negligent and foresaw something like this happening but did nothing to prevent it...which is not the case. Place blame where it rightfully belongs and that's with James Holmes.

Kim Daub

As horrible as this event is, especially for those who lost loved ones - what does suing the theater accomplish? I just don't get it ... the only person to blame is the POS that did it.

Conrad Luethy

shut up brandon

Brandon Adian

^^^irrelevant, selfish and ignorant. You should learn some respect.

Timothy Black

I watched a movie there once and it sucked. can I file a lawsuit too?

RevBF

In a way I'm hoping that one of these reaching lawsuits stick because then when I go to the movies I can come back and also sue, saying that too much security makes me feel uneasy and also gives me long term anxiety. I feel for the people that were there, really, but suing is far from something that's going to alleviate any conditions or concerns. The only thing it will manage to do is raise ticket prices on the already egregious price tag because the cost of added security will trickle down to the consumers. I hate to be the one to say what others are thinking, but, if you feel unsafe at a movie theater there's always NetFlix.