PITTSBURGH – Six cases involving plaintiffs who suffered severe injuries while escaping a shooting at a party that took place at an Airbnb rental home in Pittsburgh have been consolidated for purposes of discovery, but not for trial.
In one such case, Tamiya Edmonds of North Braddock filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on March 24 versus Airbnb, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif., 900 North Group, LLC of Pittsburgh and K&C Ventures, LLC of Atlanta.
According to the plaintiff, Airbnb knowingly rented out its listed properties to individuals who would use the residence to host large parties advertised on social media, which often veered out-of-control.
The property in question, located at 900 Madison Avenue in Pittsburgh, is a three-story residential building and is sub-divided into two separate residential spaces, with one upper level and one lower level of the building.
Defendant 900 North Group, LLC rented the property to its co-defendant, K&C Ventures, LLC, from April 16, 2022 to April 18, 2022. Airbnb’s platform further allowed a third-party renter to book an accommodation at the property for a house party to take place, the suit says.
“Throughout the evening of April 16, 2022 and into the early hours of April 17, 2022, a large number of individuals entered the house. Throughout the evening of April 16, 2022 and into the early hours of April 17, 2022, large numbers of individuals lined up on the streets near the property in order to enter the house party. By the evening of April 16, 2022, the party had attracted so many people that they were lined up outside the property waiting their respective turns to be admitted to the property. By the evening of April 16, 2022, the party had become so crowded and loud that at least one complaint was made to the City of Pittsburgh Police Department,” the suit said.
“Following at least one complaint to the City of Pittsburgh Police Department, the City of Pittsburgh dispatched officers to the property at approximately 11 p.m. Despite the fact that the party was loud, boisterous, and filled with obviously underage persons, the Police allowed the party to continue after being assured by an unknown individual that the disruptive noise would cease. By 11 p.m., the party had become so loud, boisterous, and crowded that the renters of the downstairs unit left their unit and stayed at a hotel. At some point prior to 12:30 a.m. on April 17, 2022, plaintiff (at that time, a minor) was admitted to the party that was occurring at the property. By about 12:30 a.m. on April 17, 2022, there were approximately two hundred people inside the property.”
The suit added that at or around 12:30 a.m. on April 17, 2022, at least one individual began to fire a firearm inside the property.
“Plaintiff attempted to flee from the gunfire inside the property and eventually made her way outside, and in the process of fleeing from the property, plaintiff fell to the pavement and sustained the injuries and damages set forth below,” the suit stated.
“As the sole, proximate, and direct result of the negligence of the defendants, individually and collectively, plaintiff has suffered the following injuries, all or some of which may be permanent in nature: Right knee dislocation; complete tear of the right ACL; tear of LCL, (lateral collateral ligament); tear of PCL (posterior cruciate ligament); ACL, PCI, ruptures, right knee; MCL sprain, right knee; peroneal nerve paresthesia; posterolateral corner injury; arthrofibrosis right knee; right knee pain; limited range of motion and surgical scarring.”
The instant case is at least the sixth one filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas over the same set of subject events, alongside McLain v. Airbnb, Inc. Et.Al, Rosser v. Airbnb, Inc. Et.Al, Brown v. Airbnb, Inc. Et.Al, Neal v. Airbnb, Inc. Et.Al and Green v. Airbnb, Inc. Et.Al.
UPDATE
On April 21, counsel for plaintiff Adiyah Green filed a motion to consolidate the cases under her own and in the “interests of judicial economy”, which was vigorously opposed by Airbnb – which countered that while consolidating the cases for the purposes of pre-trial discovery could preserve such judicial economy, the circumstances and damages in each case are different for each plaintiff, and thus should be maintained separately for trial.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward granted the motion in part and denied the motion in part on May 23.
“The motion’s request to consolidate the above-referenced cases for the purposes of discovery and pre-trial motions is granted. It is hereby ordered that the actions docketed at GD-23-001710, GD-22-009335, GD-22-014028, GD-22-014935, GD-23-004218 and GD-23-005167 shall be consolidated with the action docketed at GD-23-001710 for the purposes of discovery and pre-trial motions. The motion’s request to consolidate the above-referenced cases for trial is denied,” Ward said.
Concurrently, Ward sent the consolidated cases to the Commerce and Complex Litigation Center to be heard by Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge Philip A. Ignelzi.
For multiple counts of negligence, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional arbitration limits, plus interest and costs.
The plaintiff is represented by Bernard M. Tully and Michael J. Tully of Bernard M. Tully, LLC, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by Christina Manfredi McKinley, Kevin K. Douglass and Jessica M. Barnes of Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir, plus David J. Berardinelli of DeForest Koscelnik & Berardinelli, all also in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-004218
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com