Miguel Beato advised his building's super that a strange group of men was loitering, and probably selling drugs, in the lobby. After he was later attacked in that area, Beato sued the property owner, Cosmopolitan Associates.
When a Queens County Supreme Court jury found in Beato's favor, and awarded him $1.5 million in past pain and suffering, $3.5 million for future pain and suffering, $250,000 in past expenses, and, $1.5 million in future medical expenses, Cosmopolitan asked the judge to set aside the verdict. Although that request resulted in a substantial reduction of those sums, an appeal to the Appellate Division, Second Department, still ensued.
While a landlord only has a duty to protect tenants if a prior occurrence of criminal activity has made the risk of harm foreseeable, because Beato's complaints weren't enough to make the attack predictable, the AD2 vacated the award in its entirety.
Beato sure got beat.
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Beato v. Cosmopolitan Assoc., LLC