Premises Liability Lawyers

$45,000-Premises Security: Jury Verdict Assault-Apartment Complex-Facial Injuries

F&F #94288

PREMISES SECURITY-ASSAULT-APARTMENT COMPLEX: FACIAL INJURIES

Jury Verdict: $45,000

Injuries:

• Avulsion fracture of the first metatarsal of the left foot
• Soft tissue injuries to the left side of the face
• Loss of consciousness for approximately 2 hours.

Facts & Allegations: Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald represented the plaintiff, a 38-year-old construction worker, in this negligent security lawsuit.  On 8/26/94, Plaintiff was assaulted and severely beaten with a baseball bat by a group of youths in the upper parking lot of the Claremont Gardens Houses in Ossining. Plaintiff contended that the lack of security at the premises was the proximate cause of the assault. Plaintiff claimed that lighting, signs, and fencing in the area were inadequate. He contended that even though defendants had knowledge of an increase of violent criminal activity on the grounds, they had failed to upgrade the security since the 1980s. Plaintiff also argued that defendants unreasonably allowed groups of nonresident youths to congregate in the upper lot. He claimed that the perpetrator of his assault was a trespasser who had been seen in the lot in one of these groups by the superintendent prior to the date of this incident.

The jury found unanimously for Plaintiff on liability, and found, by a 5/1 vote, that Deft.'s negligence was a proximate cause of the assault.