In New York City, landlords are required to provide heat through May 31 of each year. They are not, however, required to provide air conditioning. In Cooper v Starrett City Inc., plaintiff suffered a heat stroke and died on June 10, 2008. His family commenced an action against the landlord of plaintiff’s building alleging that the landlord voluntarily undertook a duty to provide central air conditioning, and was negligent in delaying the start of the changeover until June 15.  As a result, the suit claims, plaintiff suffered a heat stroke and died.

After May 31 of each year, the landlord of plaintiff’s building undertakes a process of changing over from heat to air conditioning. This process typically takes at most 15 days. When a person voluntarily assumes the performance of a duty, here to provide air conditioning, that person is required to perform such duty carefully and in the manner that an ordinary prudent person would do so. Defendants proved that they undertook the seasonal changeover process from heat to air conditioning in their usual manner, without undue delay. As such, the Supreme Court granted defendants motion for summary judgment and the First Department affirmed.

The Court held that plaintiff provided no evidence to support its claim that defendants were reckless and late in providing air conditioning to plaintiff’s building. The court also refuted plaintiff’s assertion that defendants could have transported plaintiff to a hospital holding that landlords are not insurers of tenant safety.

Thanks to Anne Henry for her contribution to this post.