PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

A real estate management group being sued in state court over the death of

a man who suffered cardiac arrest after falling at the defendants’ property has filed a notice of removal seeking to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Court.

Philadelphia attorney Thomas J. Bradley, of McBreen & Kopko, filed the request Dec. 5 at the federal courthouse in Philadelphia on behalf of clients Henry on the Park Associates and Berkshire Property Advisors.

On Nov. 6, Philadelphia lawyer Martin G. Goch filed a slip-and-fall and wrongful death complaint at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court on behalf of Sicklerville, N.J. resident Mohammad A. Wahab, who is suing in his capacity as administrator of the estate of the late Ghulam Wahab, a tenant of the Henry on the Park apartment complex in Northwest Philadelphia who died after falling on a slippery substance at the property in early 2012.

At about 5:30 in the afternoon on Jan. 22 of that year, Wahab was entering the foyer area of the apartment complex when he fell on the slippery floor, the complaint alleges.

The man ended up sustaining multiple injuries, including a left hip fracture that required surgery.

The incident also caused Wahab to suffer an aggravation of his pre-existing heart condition, which caused him to undergo cardiac arrest, and ultimately led to his death, the lawsuit states.

The defendants are accused of having knowledge of the slippery floor, but doing nothing to immediately correct the hazardous and dangerous condition.

The complaint shows that the plaintiff, Mohammad A. Wahab, is one of Ghulam Wahab’s five surviving children.

The plaintiff is suing on behalf of a number of Ghulam Wahab’s surviving family members, including the deceased man’s wife, Shafiqa Wahab, also of Sicklerville, N.J.

Another son and three daughters named in the complaint still reside in Kabul, Afghanistan, the plaintiffs’ native homeland.

The plaintiff asserts in the lawsuit that the family has suffered pecuniary losses including expenses for medical and hospital bills, funeral and burial expenses, replacement services, loss of income and benefits, as well as other expenses, all due to the loss of the patriarch.

The family says they are seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

In the Dec. 5 removal notice, the defense maintains that the matter belongs in federal court because the claims could “easily result in an award of damages in excess of $75,000,” which triggers the threshold for federal court oversight.

 

The federal case number is 2:13-cv-07099-CMR and the state case ID number is 131100433.