$2.25 Million - Yue Yuan H

Negligent Building Security

This case involved a 47-year-old Chinese home health aide who was attacked and robbed while she was going to visit her patient in a NYCHA building in lower Manhattan.  The assailant had been preying on Asian women in the area and entered the building through an unlocked and broken security door.  As a result of the attack, Ms. H. sustained multiple facial fractures and post-traumatic stress disorder.  NYCHA denied responsibility, claiming that the tenants used the doorway and failed to report that it was broken. This office argued that the NYCHA knew of this constant problem and should have installed an effective locking system or employed a guard and should have deployed security cameras.  The case settled just prior to trial.