A sex offender managing a residential building? The thought is enough to send chills down the spine of New York injury lawyers.
Or down anyone's spine, for that matter.
A lawsuit has been filed by the U.S. attorney's office against a convicted child rapist, who has most recently been the superintendent at three Upper West Side buildings in Manhattan. The superintendent, William Barnason, 57, allegedly made unwelcome verbal and physical advances towards several women in the three buildings he managed.
Barnason had been classified by the state as a Level 3 sex offender and had been convicted in 1986 for sexually abusing three girls, all under the age of seven.
Although the current lawsuit is being brought under the anti-discrimination laws of the Fair Housing Act, the facts and circumstances to present an issue of familiarity to New York personal injury attorneys: The issue of sexual assault.
Sexual assault is a tort. As such, a New York injury lawyer is competent to handle matters relating to sexual abuse. Essentially, sexual assault falls under the tort of "assault", which is an act that is intended to cause an apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact.
In the case of William Barnason, he allegedly grabbed several women in an offensive manner and even made attempts to enter their apartments while he was intoxicated. When the women turned down his advances, he withheld their mail and refused to make repairs.
Interestingly, the building's landlord was also named in the lawsuit. This brings to mind the question of tort liability of a landlord to his tenants. And while this is a lawsuit brought under housing discrimination laws, New York injury lawyers must ask one pressing question: What is the tort liability of a landlord who hired a convicted sex offender to maintain three residential buildings?
While a landlord is not an insurer for the safety of the tenants, a landlord must nevertheless take minimal precautions to protect tenants from foreseeable criminal harm.
So here's a question I leave you to ponder:
Would the hiring of a convicted child rapist be a violation of this duty to take minimal precautions?
Related Resources
- Assault (LawBrain)
- Assault (FindLaw)
- Find New York Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
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