A tenant whose air conditioner fell on the skylight of a business below when she tried to remove it is only partly responsible for the damage, a Bronx Civil Court judge has ruled, rejecting the landlord’s claim that she was fully responsible under the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur.
The tenant, Jesse Herron, lived on the fifth floor of the building from mid-2010 through mid-2012. In the summer of 2011, she bought two air conditioners. She planned to have a handyman install them, but the building’s superintendent told her that only he was authorized to install the air conditioners, and did so, for $60 each. He installed them by affixing a metal bar to the top of each unit with screws. This metal bar was held in place by the downward pressure of the window. The units were not directly secured to the window or the building.
