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My middle school got bitten by this. The roof collapsed on a burglar and he successfully sued the school. At the time he was not doing anything illegal (as he

My middle school got bitten by this. The roof collapsed on a burglar and he successfully sued the school. At the time he was not doing anything illegal (as he was outside a public school). The roof was unsafe and we have laws against that to protect HVAC technicians and the like. That he was up to no good was irrelevant.

liquidben 17y ago
I'd presume that trespass would apply to this situation, although it would not likely invalidate the lawsuit outright.
- Periodic 17y ago
  That's the thing. As a public school, at least in our area, you're allowed to be on the grounds when the school isn't open. You just can't go inside. I once was ticketed for being at a park after sunset in our town. The cop explained to my friends and I that if we had just been across the street at the elementary school then it wouldn't have been a problem.
jjs 17y ago
Why bother robbing anyone when you can just trespass on unsafe-looking property and sue?
- mquander 17y ago
  I don't know. Are you volunteering to have a roof collapse on top of you in the hope of successfully suing the property owner? I'm not.
  - jjs 17y ago
    No, I think that would still be ethically a form of robbery, even if legally it's not.
jmaygarden 17y ago
I've heard of a copper thief successfully suing a power company for his injuries while cracking into a hot transformer.