Articles Posted in Premises Liability

Emergency officials in Ogunquit, Maine were dispatched to a local resort after reports of high levels of carbon monoxide and guests becoming ill.

More than twenty people were affected by exposure to carbon monoxide, suffering illness including vomiting, headaches, nausea and dizziness. York Fire Chief Mark O’Brien said that more than a dozen were evacuated and 7 people were admitted at an area hospital for treatment. All were listed in stable condition. O’Brien said that carbon monoxide readings in the resort’s basement read 10 times the normal level, and the building did not have carbon monoxide detectors present.

Fortunately all of the guests involved in this incident were not seriously injured, however this is the second carbon monoxide-related incident to occur in the Northeast in less than a week. Last week, a restaurant manager at a Long Island Legal Seafood was found unconscious when carbon monoxide leaked into the building. Twenty-seven other people were taken to an area hospital for carbon monoxide exposure. According to an initial investigation by N.Y. fire marshal Terence McNally, there had been defective heating equipment in the building–specifically a flu pipe from one of the water heaters that had failed. The restaurant also did not have a carbon monoxide detector. Under N.Y. law, only places where people sleep are required to have carbon monoxide detectors.

Though these incidents occurred outside of Massachusetts, they exemplify the dangers posed to guests when building codes are violated. A building code is essentially the rules for keeping buildings and other structures minimally safe. Building inspectors are responsible for making sure buildings adhere to these codes to ensure that they are sound and properly constructed, have adequate means of exit in the event of a fire, and are otherwise sufficiently safe and sanitary.
Continue reading

More than half a dozen residents at an apartment building were sent to the emergency room after being exposed to carbon monoxide on Sunday.

Manchester, N.H. firefighters responded to the building, where they found dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide. All of the residents were evacuated and sent to a nearby hospital for treatment while the apartment building was ventilated. Upon inspection firefighters found that there were no carbon monoxide detectors in the apartment, a safety violation on behalf of the landlord.

While this case occurred in New Hampshire, it is a clear example of negligence on the part of the landlord as he violated safety codes established in his state. The states of both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, as of January 2010, require the installation of properly working carbon monoxide detectors.

New Hampshire laws § 150:10-a:
Requires the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in rental units and in single and multi-family dwellings built or substantially rehabilitated after January 1, 2010.

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 148, § 26f1/2:
Requires that every dwelling, building or structure occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes that contains fossil-fuel burning equipment or incorporates enclosed parking within its structure shall be equipped by the owner with working, approved carbon monoxide alarms.

Building codes are rules for keeping buildings and other structures minimally safe. In Massachusetts, the Board of Building Regulations and Standards has adopted standards of building codes to ensure that buildings are safe and free of hazards to the public. These provisions include fire codes, structural codes, and sanitary codes.
Continue reading

A young boy was seriously injured after being struck by a tree, in a relative’s backyard last week.

According to witness reports, a group of adults and children were hooking a zipline to a tree in a back yard. When the boy went on the zipline, the 25-30 foot tree it was hooked to fell on him. The boy was seriously injured, and taken to Children’s Hospital of Boston. The situation remains under investigation by local and state officials.

Unfortunately, this incident illustrates a potential premises liability case. Though this type of incident specifically is uncommon, some common types of injuries that occur at others’ homes or on another’s property may include slip-and-fall incidents, falls (from an open window), as well as strikes from loose objects. In this case, the homeowners had the legal obligation to ensure that their guests were safe from dangerous situations.

Premises liability cases tend to be complex, and it is most advised for those who have been involved in these types of incidents to contact an experienced Premises Liability Attorney to discuss their options and eligibility for filing a premises liability lawsuit.
Continue reading

A man whose mother and infant daughter were killed in a King of Prussia apartment complex has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex, its owners, and the person accused of the killings. Venkata Venna is claiming reckless and careless conduct and negligence. He believes the complex managers and owners should be liable for premises liability because, he says, they did not provide proper security on the premises.

Venkata’s 10-month-old daughter Saanvi and his 61-year-old mother Satyavathi Venna were killed after the child was allegedly abducted by Raghunandan Yandamuri, who is accused of kidnapping the girl to extort money to pay off his gambling debt. NBC Philadelphia reports that Yandamuri is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, abusing a corpse, kidnapping, and other offenses in this matter.

According to police, the 27-year-old admitted to accidentally slitting the older woman’s throat and putting a handkerchief in the infant’s mouth. Yandamuri’s lawyer, however, contends that his client was coerced into issuing a confession.

James Hilario, a Fall River man, has settled his Massachusetts personal injury lawsuit against the Teamworks indoor facility for $325,000. Hilario got hurt in June 2010 while playing flag football for his local team the Fall River Beavers during a game against another team, the Taunton Terrors.

According to Hilario’s Somerset, MA premises liability lawsuit, the 50,000 square ft. facility did not provide proper security (including failed to put in place/execute security the necessary safety policies), and should have previously banned Taunton player Justin Farland from the venue. Farland is the man convicted in Hilario’s stabbing.

Previous to the incident, Teamworks reportedly had been monitoring the Taunton Terrors after others accused the team of making violent threats to other teams. The facility reportedly had been thinking of banning the team from playing there.