Among the first legal actions filed in the wake of the spectacular Manhattan suicide of Dr. Nicholas Bartha is one by neighbors naming energy provider Con Ed (as well as Bartha himself) as a defendant. It alleges that Con Ed failed to install “safety devices” which would presumably have prevented Bartha from deliberately opening a flow of gas to his Upper East Side house for purposes of blowing it up. (AP/MyWay, Jul. 16).
Exploding-townhouse suicide: gas co. blamed
Among the first legal actions filed in the wake of the spectacular Manhattan suicide of Dr. Nicholas Bartha is one by neighbors naming energy provider Con Ed (as well as Bartha himself) as a defendant. It alleges that Con Ed failed to install “safety devices” which would presumably have prevented Bartha from deliberately opening a […]
One Comment
I would like to see the neighbors sue the wife, and the divorce court judge, whose acts were foreseeably the proximate cause of his suicide.
I know the judge has absolute immunity. I would like to see it challenged in torts. The judge was the real cause of this catastrophe, especially in his failure to warn the likely victims. The immunity of the judge violates the procedural due process rights of the neighbors. It also represents a potential constructive judicial taking without just government compensation.