Even though a jury ruled that only a building code was violated in the death of a young Northeastern University student, a judge has decided to award his family with more than $6.7 million in damages, as reported by Boston.com and other news media.
Jacob Freeman, 21,fell down a flight of stairs behind the Our House East bar on Gainsborough Street early in the morning of April 1, 2007; he died later that same night.
A jury ruled that the bar was not liable for Freeman’s death.
The young man’s mother, Lisa Klairmont, 55, told Boston.com, “We couldn’t understand how the jury came to such a decision. We’re very grateful that the judge carefully reviewed all of the facts and came to a just decision.”
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Elizabeth M. Fahey ordered the bar to pay damages on the grounds that they had violated the city’s process for permitting for decades, and blankly ignored the hazards that their stairs created. Fahey also said that the bar had other violations.
Freeman’s blood alcohol level of .208 – well above the state’s .08 limit for driving – was a topic of much discussion during the trial.
But Judge Fahey felt that the issue of the stairs was more at fault than Freeman’s apparent excessive drinking. She said the staircase didn’t have the required hand railing, was dimly lit, the view was obscured by vinyl stripes and didn’t have a landing.
The owner of the bar is Gainsboro Restaurant Incorporated. Representing them in the lawsuit is their lawyer Kevin S. Taylor of Denver.
Taylor said that the staircase at the bar is for employees only, and not for customer use.
He also contended that there were city documents that indicated, for a number of years, that the bar had not received any violations.
Taylor also claimed that no one had witnessed Freeman’s fall.
Gainsboro plans on appealing the judge’s ruling.
Judge Fahey did agree, yes, city inspectors never cited the staircase for anything. But, the owners didn’t pursue a permit to build it, or even obtain a permit to run a bar at that address.
Two people have fallen off the stairs, and the owners had done nothing to see to its repair.
Of the two falls, Taylor argued that one was a failed worker’s compensation claim and the other was simply “hearsay.”
Mrs. Klairmont felt “denigrated” in listening to her son’s blood-alcohol percentage brought up in court. Furthermore, she found the experience “gut-wrenching.”
Taylor brought several of Freeman’s Northwestern University friends into court to testify to the deceased young man’s heavy drinking habits.
Jeffrey A. Newman, the Freeman’s Boston-based attorney said of the ruling, “It’s not often that a jury doesn’t render a finding and a judge does that, but . . . this is a very, very good decision.”
If someone you love has been killed at a business, due to building violations or something similar, contact a wrongful death attorney to discuss your case today.
You may be awarded monetary compensation for your loss.