TOPIC: PREMISES LIABILITY

TITLE: Landlord Found Liable For Tenant’s Injuries Sustained In Apartment Fire; Suit Alleged Locked Window Gate over Fire Escape and Lack of Smoke Detectors

RESULT: Jury verdict for the plaintiff, in the amount of $1,504,000. Award consisted of $400,000 for past pain and suffering, $500,000 for future pain and suffering, $39,000 for past loss of earnings, $312,000 for future loss of earnings, $103,000 for past medical expenses, and $150,000 for future medical expenses.

INJURY: Plaintiff suffered second and third degree burns over 46% of his body. He underwent six skin graft procedures and will require two more in the future. He sustained burns to his throat cartilage, which required placement of a permanent tracheotomy tube. The chemical burns to his lungs resulted in a substantial reduction in pulmonary capacity.

SUMMARY: A 30-year-old auto mechanic arrived home from work at approximately 11:00 p.m. He placed plaintains and sausages in a pot of water on a low flame, and went into his bedroom to watch a videotape while the food cooked. After some time, he became aware that the apartment was filling with smoke. When plaintiff went to the kitchen, he saw the top of the stove engulfed in flames. He first tried calling for help from the living room window, the only window that could be opened. He then went back to the kitchen and made five-six attempts to put out the fire with a five-gallon bucket filled with water drawn from the bathroom. Plaintiff then became overcome with smoke.

Suit was brought against the landlord. The subject apartment had been sublet by plaintiff from the tenant of record, without the landlord’s authority. An inspection by NYC Housing Preservation & Development Code Enforcement, defendant was cited for not providing a smoke detector in the unit and for permitting the tenant to have an unlawful, locked window gate in the kitchen, over the fire escape window. The violations were never certified as corrected. Members of the fire department testified that there was no smoke detector in the apartment, and that there was no question that the gate was locked at the time of the fire.

The managing agent and superin-tendent of the landlord testified that smoke detectors were installed when the tenant moved in, and reinstalled on two occasions after the violations. The tenant of record testified that she had two smoke detectors and that her gate was not kept locked.

The defense further contended that plaintiff was intoxicated at the time of the fire because hospital tests taken at 2:57 a.m. showed a blood alcohol level of .078. Plaintiff’s physician testified that this was a trivial amount, and that immediately after the burn the body becomes hypo-metabolic, therefore, from the time of the burn to the time of the test, little metabolism of alcohol would have occurred. The testimony of the defendant’s toxicologist — stating that the level was higher when extrapolated to the time of the fire — was disputed.

SETTLEMENT NEGOTIATIONS: Demand: $675,000. Offer: $300,000.

COURT: New York Cty. Supreme Ct., N.Y.