Gina Calabria

Gina Calabria (Partner-New Jersey) and Alison Weitzer (Associate-New Jersey) obtained summary judgment in New Jersey Superior Court in Essex County on behalf of a client that installs and rents steel security screens on windows and doors to secure vacant buildings. The plaintiff, a firefighter for the City of Newark, alleged that he was injured while responding to a fire in a vacant building and never returned to work, asserting a substantial wage loss claim in the $1.2 to $1.4 million range, with a demand of $2.3 million. Co-defendant building owner filed an Offer of Judgment for $350,000; Gina and Alison never extended a settlement offer. Plaintiffs claimed the fire was started by a vagrant cooking food in the vacant building. According to the rental contract, the client had no responsibility for building security and/or monitoring services for the property. However, the co-defendant property owner’s expert opined that the client assumed a duty of care beyond the language in the contract and failed to implement various security measures (many of which were not services offered by the client), in violation of “industry standards” that were never cited by the purported expert. The property owner also claimed that the client failed to conduct a risk assessment prior to installing its equipment, which was also outside the scope of the client’s contract. The court agreed that the plaintiff and the co-defendant property owner failed to establish that the client was responsible for anything beyond what was contained in the rental contract. The motion for summary judgment was granted, dismissing all claims against the client.