PITTSBURGH – A plaintiff whose 2-year-old son fell to his death through an allegedly defective window in a Pittsburgh apartment in 2018 says the Allegheny County Housing Authority should not be granted immunity in the subsequent lawsuit, and a state court judge has agreed.
On May 1, Craig Edwards, administrator of the Estate of Roland Williams Jr., filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas against Michael W. Gestrich and Carol J. Gestrich (doing business as “Liberty Management”) and the Allegheny County Housing Authority. All parties are based in Pittsburgh.
The defendants maintained a residential housing unit in Sharpsburg where Roland resided with his parents, Briana Edwards and Roland Williams Sr., the lawsuit says.
On the third floor of the unit is a room with two windows approximately six inches apart and located nine inches off the floor – which allegedly featured thin horizontal bars, but failed to have protective screens installed.
Despite an inspection taking place in November 2017, the suit said that this defective condition was not remedied.
On June 2, 2018, two-year-old Roland Williams Jr. was playing in the room and leaned against the windowsill in question, causing him to fall out of the window 23 feet to the ground and sustain injuries which proved fatal, the plaintiff claims.
The plaintiff said the defendants are liable for survival and wrongful death, and are seeking medical expenses, funeral expenses, estate expenses and other losses and recoverable damages in excess of $50,000, plus court costs and interest.
Counsel for the Gestriches filed an answer to the complaint with new matter on July 20, countering that the plaintiffs failed to state a proper claim and contributed to the circumstances surrounding their son’s death.
“Plaintiff’s complaint fails to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted. Answering defendants aver that decedent’s parents and/or natural guardians were comparatively and/or contributorily negligent, and as a result of said negligence, any recovery by plaintiff, should be eliminated or reduced in accordance with the Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act,” the answer read, in part.
Additionally, the Gestriches leveled cross-claim counts that the Allegheny County Housing Authority was the sole party liable for the events in question.
The Gestriches filed a third-party joinder complaint against Williams and Edwards on July 21, charging they failed to properly supervise the decedent and failed to mitigate or provide notice of the dangerous conditions, thereby resulting in their son’s death.
On July 16, Allegheny County Housing Authority filed preliminary objections, claiming it is immune against tort actions under the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act.
UPDATE
In an Aug. 10 brief responding to the Allegheny County Housing Authority’s preliminary objections, the plaintiff claims the organization is an exception to the state rule extending immunity to local agencies. The care, custody and control of a real property in possession of a local agency, like the instant property where the events in question took place, would help to provide for this exception.
“Here, the cause of action falls under the real property exception and therefore, immunity for the defendant housing authority does not apply. The real property in question, the premises located at 315 Church Street, Apartment A, Sharpsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania 15215 is under the care, custody or control of the defendant housing authority,” the brief states.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs say rules states the public housing authority has to provide a family with assistance to seek housing, and then contract with the landlord to provide housing assistance payments on behalf of the family. Importantly, the public housing authority is also required to inspect each unit annually to ensure it meets minimum housing quality standards.
“Allegheny County Housing Authority specifically requires, under their HCVP Section 8 requirements, that after the unit passes inspection and the rent has been approved, the owner and the tenant enter into a lease agreement for an initial term of one year. The defendant housing authority must inspect and approve the property and can withdraw the Section 8 funding if the landlord does not meet the obligations or housing standards,” the brief continued.
“Therefore, the real property at issue is within the care, custody or control of the defendant housing authority under the Section 8 program. As a result, the real property exception applies and the housing authority as a local agency is not entitled to immunity.”
On Oct. 20, Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Patrick Connelly overruled the housing authority’s objections.
“Upon consideration of the preliminary objections to plaintiff’s complaint filed on behalf of defendant, Allegheny County Housing Authority, and any response thereto, it is hereby ordered that said preliminary objections are overruled. Defendant may file a motion for summary judgment at the close of discovery, if appropriate. Defendant shall file an answer and new matter within 30 days,” Connelly said.
The plaintiff is represented by Peter D. Friday, Kevin S. Burger and John K. Bryan of Friday & Cox, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by Martin A. Durkin of Durkin Law Offices in Philadelphia and James M. Leety of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-20-005447
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com