Michael Bonner v. Trustmark Corporation

Early one morning, Michael Bonner went to the Trustmark Bank in Opelika, Alabama, to make an after-hours deposit on behalf of his employer. The after-hours deposit box is a walk-up box attached to the front of the bank. In its security manual, Trustmark includes minimum lighting standards for after-hours deposit boxes. That morning the Opelika branch was not in compliance with those standards. As Bonner approached the box, an unknown man robbed and shot him.

Bonner and his wife brought a negligence claim against Trustmark in federal district court based on diversity of citizenship, and the…