Attorney(s): Managing Attorney Ed Steves and Trial Partner Michael Feldman
Settlement: $950,000 Settlement
When our clients paid their rent to their Bronx landlord every month they expected a few things in return. One was that the landlord would properly maintain the regulator on the hot water heater so scalding water would never come out of the faucet. They were home at their Bronx apartment, bathing their 8 month old baby girl like all parents do. They prepared the water at a comfortable temperature and put their daughter in the tub. After bathing her, they turned on the water to rinse the soap off and scalding hot water came from the faucet. The water was so hot it caused 3rd degree burns immediately on the bottom of her feet. Unbeknownst to our clients, the owner of an apartment building on East 196th street in the Bronx failed to fix the hot water regulator for the whole building. Not knowing the management company and apartment owner must control the temperature according to City regulations, our clients didn’t realize they had a claim for their daughter. After seeing Jacoby & Meyers on television two years after the injury, the child’s father contacted the J&M injury lawyers. Since the hot water heater had been changed, it was a challenging case. That did not stop the firm from fully investigating how/why the water was so hot. An expert explained the apartment owner did not have the required temperature regulator on the hot water heater. The bottom line was, had they had the temperature regulator on, the child would never have been burned.
Jacoby & Meyers Managing Attorney Edward Steves and Trial Partner Michael Feldman held the building owner accountable and settled the case before trial for $950,000.