Dive Brief:
- GPM Investments, the c-store arm of Arko Corp., is fighting to vacate a $5.5 million settlement it’s been ordered to pay after an assailant murdered one of its store clerks, according to court filings with the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division.
- The employee, Pam Smotherman, was shot and killed during an armed robbery in July 2020 while working an overnight shift at a GPM-owned E-Z Mart near San Antonio, Texas. Smotherman’s family sued GPM for negligence, wrongful death and survival, and was awarded a $5.5 million settlement last month after the lawsuit was compelled to arbitration.
- GPM is refusing to pay the settlement on grounds of “evident partiality” from the arbitrator and that the arbitrator “exceeded his authority” in deciding the case’s outcome.
Dive Insight:
Shortly after Smotherman’s murder, GPM granted her family a death benefit of $100,000 under GPM’s Texas Occupational Injury Benefit Plan. Additionally, GPM provided over $9,000 in burial expenses under the plan.
Smotherman’s family subsequently sued GPM, arguing that the convenience retailer “did not follow its own policies” regarding several safety procedures, the court filing notes. Those policy violations included inadequate lighting in the forecourt, windows blocked with promotional signs, a lack of documented security inspections of the location and the inability to lock the store’s front doors, according to the filing.
Prior to Smotherman’s shooting, clerks at this store had voiced concerns about working night shifts alone, as there had been a robbery at a different gas station down the road, according to the filing.
In light of these concerns, GPM’s corporate team directed that the store Smotherman worked at close early moving forward. However, management ignored this request, and left employees working alone through the night, according to the filing.
“Ultimately, Pam was alone when she was killed in the middle of the night and at a time corporate said the store should have been closed to ensure employee safety,” the filing says.
A spokesperson from GPM Investments did not respond by press time to comment on the case, nor did the attorney representing the c-store retailer.
The lawsuit was moved to arbitration in February. On May 8, the court ruled in favor of Smotherman’s family, finding that the store’s robbery and Smotherman’s murder was “foreseeable by GPM.”
The settlement included $4.4 million for gross negligence against GPM, offset by the death benefit and funeral payments. When adding in prejudgment interest, the total settlement reached over $5.5 million at an interest rate of 8.5% per year.
Late last month, GPM filed a notice to vacate the settlement. GPM argued that the arbitrator ignored several testimonies from other employees that the store had never experienced any robberies prior to Smotherman’s murder. Instead, the arbitrator “relied on isolated and unrelated instances of robberies” of other retail stores, GPM argued in the lawsuit.
Attorneys last week representing Smotherman’s family called GPM’s argument “baseless,” as there are no grounds to vacate the settlement under the Federal Arbitration Act.
Richmond, Virginia-based Arko has more than 1,540 c-stores in 33 states under a variety of brands in its GPM Investments arm, including E-Z Mart, Breadbox, ExpressShop and Pride.
