Two Women Fall THROUGH 10th Story Window at W Midtown (lawsuit, legal)

[Alley01]

Originally Posted by ATLHRLGUY

I'm sure this stance has changed by now, but according to this article posted June 1st, investigators had no intention at all to check whether or not the windows were faulty.

Campos said in a statement officers are not looking at the glass in the hotel windows but are investigating whether there was any criminal activity involved in this incident.
"We are not investigating any aspect of the hotel windows," he said. "At this time, we have no reason to believe this was anything other than a tragic accident."

Investigation continues into fatal fall from hotel window - CNN.com

Well then it appears that the father has lost his case. Most windows will break if you fall against them. I still don't understand the play fighting thing. Didn't they seem a little old to be acting in such a manner? Granted it was early in the morning so I am sure alcohol was involved. I am just not seeing where the hotel was negligent in any way with this incident.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Alley01

Well then it appears that the father has lost his case.

Oh, it's way too early to make any predictions one way or the other how this will turn out. It usually takes years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to battle those things out. Both sides will lawyer up, and in turn they'll both hire batteries of engineers, consultants, reconstructionists, investigators, etc. They'll put every bolt and shard of glass under an electron microscope, bring in human factors engineers, read every medical record, maintenance report, purchasing order and contract under the sun and interview everybody who even knew somebody who had anything to do with it.

I'd say check back about 2014 for a status.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Much as I hate to say it, this is one time I'm actually glad to see a lawsuit. I need some engineers (or physicists) to explain just how the heck this happened. I feel horrible for the parents though. I can't even imagine how they feel.

[blackhemi]

Glass is a material that is unpredictable. The combined weight if the two girls possibly slamming into it as a solid metal object (jewelry?) may have stressed it. In this case, the window was use in such a manner which it was not designed for. Were the girls intoxicated? That could greatly skew judgement on how hard one can play.

The building and the windows were inspected in 2008 and all passed. I hope the hotel fights.

[Alley01]

Originally Posted by blackhemi

Glass is a material that is unpredictable. The combined weight if the two girls possibly slamming into it as a solid metal object (jewelry?) may have stressed it. In this case, the window was use in such a manner which it was not designed for. Were the girls intoxicated? That could greatly skew judgement on how hard one can play.

The building and the windows were inspected in 2008 and all passed. I hope the hotel fights.

You can bet they will and I hope the hotel wins. We have a serious lack of accountability in this country. The lack of judgement of these two women lead to one being killed and the other seriously injured. Take responsibility that windows can't handle "play fighting" by two intoxicated women and move on. Fighting on the premise that the hotel should have had structural additions in place to handle play fighting is absolutely ridiculous which the premise of this lawsuit would most likely have to assume.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Alley01

You can bet they will and I hope the hotel wins. We have a serious lack of accountability in this country.

I hope the party that is right wins. I completely agree that we need greater accountability, but why does that mean letting the hotel off the hook if it's proven that they screwed up?

In other words, if the hotel failed to maintain its windows properly, they should be held responsible for that. On the other hand, if the women themselves (or someone else) caused it, then it would be ridiculous to hold the hotel responsible.

If it's a mix of who's at fault, let a jury sort it out. We average people are pretty good at figuring things out once we get the facts.

But until we have the facts, I don't see how we can decide who's in the right.

[Alley01]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I hope the party that is right wins. I completely agree that we need greater accountability, but why does that mean letting the hotel off the hook if it's proven that they screwed up?

In other words, if the hotel failed to maintain its windows properly, they should be held responsible for that. On the other hand, if the women themselves (or someone else) caused it, then it would be ridiculous to hold the hotel responsible.

If it's a mix of who's at fault, let a jury sort it out. We average people are pretty good at figuring things out once we get the facts.

But until we have the facts, I don't see how we can decide who's in the right.

Look at the pictures of the scene. The window cracked so that would not be a maintenance issue. If the window had actually fallen out without cracking I can see your point. But, it cracked like any window would have. The frame of the window was still intact. The glass was the only part missing. It would be interesting to see if any cases like this exist and check on what the ruling was. Guess I need access to Lexis Nexis.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Alley01

Look at the pictures of the scene. The window cracked so that would not be a maintenance issue. If the window had actually fallen out without cracking I can see your point. But, it cracked like any window would have. The frame of the window was still intact. The glass was the only part missing. It would be interesting to see if any cases like this exist and check on what the ruling was. Guess I need access to Lexis Nexis.

Well, I said from the beginning that it's hard to understand how this happened.

Be that as it may, I'd wait for all the facts to come out before I could say I hope the hotel wins or complain about the lack of accountability.

What if it turns out this window wasn't properly secured or was overlooked in the course of standard maintenance? We all know those kinds of things happen sometimes.

To get the answers they'll have to drill down into the records and find out what the scientific test show. If somebody had stubbed their toe that kind of effort would be ridiculous, but when somebody dies and another person is seriously injured, I'd say it's worth it. You certainly don't want a repeat.

And just to underline that, who's volunteering to go lean against an upper floor window at the Midtown W?

[Alley01]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, I said from the beginning that it's hard to understand how this happened.

Be that as it may, I'd wait for all the facts to come out before I could say I hope the hotel wins or complain about the lack of accountability.

What if it turns out this window wasn't properly secured or was overlooked in the course of standard maintenance? We all know those kinds of things happen sometimes.

To get the answers they'll have to drill down into the records and find out what the scientific test show. If somebody had stubbed their toe that kind of effort would be ridiculous, but when somebody dies and another person is seriously injured, I'd say it's worth it. You certainly don't want a repeat.

And just to underline that, who's volunteering to go lean against an upper floor window at the Midtown W?

Not me or any skyscraper for that matter - not even my office building. Not sure why, but I always stay away from the windows! I just have never thought of them as being as structurally sound as railing. Now, if the windows had railing, I may consider it.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Alley01

Not me or any skyscraper for that matter - not even my office building. Not sure why, but I always stay away from the windows! I just have never thought of them as being as structurally sound as railing. Now, if the windows had railing, I may consider it.

Years ago, I recall a story about an civil engineer in Toronto who helped design the framing and windows on a skyscraper. To prove to the building owner just how confident he was in the structural integrity of the windows he designed, he leaped into one on the forty-some-odd floor. The window popped from the frame and the engineer, well, didn't fare so well.