Dean filed suit against Whataburger, Inc, alleging that the company's negligence was the proximate cause of Mr. Dean's murder. The defendant denied the plaintiff's allegation, citing that there was a lack of evidence to prove that it was a negligent act. The trial court granted Whataburger a summary hearing, finding that the shooting death of a dean was not a foreseeable event, and Barton appealed. Issues: Barton appealed on two issues. Whataburger Inc was unable to conduct a proper hiring process, leading to the aggravated theft at the restaurant. Barton also claims the restaurant was unable to provide a safe working environment, accusing the business of failing to have reasonable security measures in place to prevent violent crime. Barton produced evidence of Gregory Love's criminal history. In 1993, Love was convicted of a felony for trafficking cocaine in the state of Indiana. He was also convicted of another misdemeanor for failure to pay child support in Texas in 2002. Before being hired for the management position, his background check was only conducted for criminal convictions in Harris County. This allowed Whataburger to not locate its criminal.