Man falls from apartment complex roof, awarded $43M verdict

After falling from a roof of an apartment building, a writer was recently awarded $43 million in damages. The fall resulted in his paralysis and need for a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. When New York residents suffer a serious accident while on the property of an apartment complex, they are typically entitled to file personal injury suits against the responsible parties.

The 31-year-old New York City man, who was an intern for Rolling Stones magazine, was a guest at a Sept. 25, 2010 party at a luxury apartment building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Around 4:30 a.m., the man needed to use the restroom, but he was told by the host that he could not use the apartment’s bathroom because the host’s wife was asleep. With no bathroom on the apartment’s roof, the host gave the man an empty plastic bottle and instructed him to relieve himself in a more private spot.

The man walked to the roof’s edge and began to climb onto a parapet that was 42 inches high. The man did not realize that there was a 2 ½-foot gap between the apartment building and the one next door. After losing his balance, he plummeted 70 feet, shattering his spine and causing a paralysis that will require him to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.

The jury voted on a recent Thursday in April 2016 in the New York Supreme Court to have the development company pay the victim $2.7 million in past damages in addition to $41 million in future damages. When residents of New York residents are injured in an accident at an apartment complex or another individual’s property and they believe negligence exists, many typically choose to consider filing a legal claim. If and when they decide to do so, most victims typically choose to discuss their cases with experienced attorneys. As time limits in which an injured party may file a personal injury suit exist, victims must act quickly.

Source: nydailynews.com, “Man paralyzed in Brooklyn roof fall wins $43M verdict after budding journalism career was cut short“, Graham Rayman, April 30, 2016