The family of a toddler who fell to her death from a highrise apartment in North York in May is suing the building owners and its management for millions in damages.
A statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in August alleges that negligence on behalf of GH Capital Corporation and 373041 Ontario Limited, as well as two property managers, led to the death of the daughter of Deepali Kashyap and Rakshit Chauhan at 50 Graydon Hall Drive.
The statement of claim says Kashyap and Chauhan’s almost two-year-old daughter was “playing with her parents and walking within the apartment” before she “gently touched” a window in the bedroom, which broke the glass “suddenly and without warning.”
The toddler then fell through the window opening and died, the statement of claim says.
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It goes on to say that Kashyap and Chauhan were “only a short distance away” from their daughter but could not reach her before she fell. The couple witnessed their child’s fatal fall and “suffered serious and permanent psychological injuries” as a result, according to the court document.
Kashyap, Chauhan, and the toddler’s grandparents are listed as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They are seeking $18 million in damages.
Toddler dead following fall from North York apartment building
CBC News reached out to GH Capital Corporation for comment but has not yet received a response. A CBC reporter also contacted the lawyer believed to be representing the defendants, but was repeatedly told “no comment” by a receptionist.
Michael Smitiuch, one of the lawyers representing the family, said they want to make the public “aware of the dangers in apartment buildings.”
“No amount of money will ever make up for the loss of their daughter — they know that,” he said.
“The gut of it is that [management] knew the glass was unsafe, they knew it was thin, and they didn’t take any measures to improve the safety of the glass, nor did they warn the tenants in this building.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The statement of claim alleges that the building’s management “caused or permitted unsafe and inadequate glass windows to be installed within the premises” and that it failed to maintain them.
It also alleges numerous instances of negligence, including failure to install safety locks and properly upgrade or replace glass windows in the building.
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The statement of claim goes on to say that management was aware or “ought to have been aware” of previous instances where unsafe glass windows resulted in “injury or harm” to residents.
Smitiuch said Kashyap and Chauhan had previously filed service requests for window repairs in their apartment.
The lawsuit says the toddler’s parents and grandparents “continue to suffer physically, psychologically and emotionally” following her death.
The family suffers from depression, anxiety, and nightmares and flashbacks, according to the statement of claim.
They are seeking punitive and exemplary damages, with the lawsuit alleging the building owners and its management “made or adopted baseless and inflammatory insinuations” that the family had “something to hide” about their toddler’s death.
“They exploited the plaintiff’s grief and vulnerability by directing suspicion toward them without any reasonable factual basis,” the statement of claim says.
