Landlords Legal Battles Continue
Lawsuit alleges Reddys blame in death

by KENYON HAN
Contributing Writer
Thursday
November 30, 2000

Discuss this article in the Daily Cal forums. Lakireddy Bali Reddy, a
Berkeley landlord charged with illegally importing Indian girls for
sex, is facing a civil suit, filed Monday, charging that he is
partially responsible for the death of one of the girls.

The girl's family filed the lawsuit, which stems for the death ruled
accidental that led to the federal investigation of Reddy.

Chanti Prattipati, a 17 year-old Indian national, died Nov. 24, 1999
from carbon monoxide poisoning in one of Reddy's Bancroft Way
apartments. The poisoning was a result of fumes that leaked from the
building's gas heating system, injuring one other girl in the process.

Reddy, who with his family's property is the wealthiest landlord in
Berkeley, owns Reddy Realty and Pasand Madras Indian Cuisine. He also
controls property that brings in more than $1 million in rent per
month.

According to the lawsuit, Reddy had a duty to maintain the apartment
building in "safe and good repair." Instead, the plaintiffs allege
that he failed to keep the heating system in good condition, and his
negligence was one of the main factors that led to Prattipati's death.

Jon Vicars, a fellow landlord and business acquaintance of the Reddy
family, however, said that many of the charges filed against Reddy
were unjustified.

"He just recently bought the building two months prior," Vicars said.
"He had no way of really understanding the problems with the carbon
monoxide. In fact, the building is probably one of the more well-kept
buildings in Berkeley. The death was a shock to us all."

The plaintiffs also allege, however, that Reddy had legal custody of
Prattipati at the time of her death, which meant he was responsible to
provide for her "care and protection". After her exposure to the
harmful gas, Reddy did not keep his responsibility to care for
Prattipati by providing her with medical attention, the lawsuit said.

Reddy's attorney and the other defendants in the case were not
available for comment.

Aside from Reddy, other defendants in the civil suit include all of
the previous owners of the building and Caldwell-Roland Roofing, Inc.,
which had done some construction work on the apartment building nearly
a year before Prattipati's death.

The plaintiffs uphold that the previous owners should have been aware
of the faulty heating system prior to selling the building. But they
failed to disclose the problem to Reddy when they sold the property in
July, the lawsuit said. It also attributed the death partially to
actions of the construction company for failing to "exercise ordinary
care" when they did work on the heating system.

The other girl who was injured in the incident is also filing charges
against Reddy and the other parties.

The plaintiffs in the case are asking that the court award the
Prattipati family compensatory damages as well as money that will
serve as compensation to help cover legal fees. They also want the
court to award to the second victim money that will cover her "mental,
physical and nervous pain and suffering."

The Alliance of South Asians Taking Action aligned itself with the
Prattipati family and is raising funds for them. They are also holding
a candlelight vigil in the memory of Prattipati, said Sonushya Mathai,
a member of the Alliance. The vigil, open to the public, will be held
on Dec. 9, from 5:30 to 7 pm at the corner of Bancroft Way and
Shattuck Avenue.

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