GPM Investments LLC has settled a lawsuit with the family of a worker who was shot and killed during an armed robbery at one of its E-Z Mart convenience stores, according to court documents.
The Richmond, Virginia-based retailer and Harriett Louise Rehman, on behalf of the estate of Virginia Smotherman and the estate of Pollyanna “Pam” Smotherman, have agreed to settle their dispute, according to a November court filing at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.
Pam Smotherman was an employee who was shot and killed during an armed robbery around 3 a.m. at a San Antonio E-Z Mart convenience store in July 2020, court documents show.
GPM granted the family a death benefit of $100,000 under its Texas Occupational Injury Benefit Plan and more than $9,000 in funeral reimbursement.
Smotherman’s family, however, sued the convenience-store retailer for negligence, wrongful death and survival, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit said the retailer enforced poor safety procedures and ignored requests from the corporate entity to close at an earlier time because of safety concerns.
GPM Investments is No. 6 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
In May, the arbitrator issued a final award of $4.45 million in favor of the Smotherman family and against GPM, saying that with pre- and post-judgment interest, GPM is fully liable to the Smotherman family for more than $5.5 million, the court documents said.
GPM claimed that the final award must be vacated due to the arbitrator’s “evident partiality” and that the arbitrator exceeded his authority, court documents show.
The Nov. 27 court filing did not include any other details except that GPM and Rehman will “promptly file a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice when all settlement activities have been concluded.”
CSP Daily News reached out to GPM, but it did not provide a comment by press time.
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