Tragic. It happens in high rises and even in shorter buildings more often than you may realize. When the news picks up the story, instant attention is brought to a building and the board and management need to spring into action and be proactive.
Legal thinkers will immediately assess liability and preventative work that can be done now that it has happened in your building and the board may be on notice of a dangerous condition that should be rectified promptly. The absence of window guards when required is an example. Even when such guards are not legally required in the applicable apartment it’s a good wake up call to take a look and make sure apartments that are supposed to have guards on windows actually have them. That any required notices are being sent and follow up documentation being collected.
Insurance for the coop, condo or HOA needs to be notified. The board has to plan for the worst and be concerned about the possibility of a lawsuit even if the board and management didn’t do anything wrong.
Notification of residents of the event and assuring them that the board and management are on top of it should be considered. How to address or not address the media attention? How to help neighbors in your building cope with the tragedy? How to make sure the attention of the event doesn’t impact the building in any further negative way and how to go on from here? These are all areas that experienced counsel and management can help the board navigate.
Read about the all too often tragedy on the upper east side of Manhattan (https://nypost.com/2022/07/16/nyc-man-falls-to-his-death-while-cleaning-windows-of-his-park-ave-high-rise/). Something as simple as window cleaning leads to tragic fall.
