The first Case
Our client, Miss Pribbles, has had a long-running dispute with her landlady, Mrs. Treblinka. Miss Pribbles rents the middle level of a 3-flat apartment house (one apartment takes up each floor). Mrs. Treblinka used to live on the first floor, but has moved to a different building now, with her grown son. There are other renters below and above her. The lease is year-to-year, and expires next December. Miss Pribbles has actually lived in the flat for eight or so years (she is not quite sure, but it has been some time). For most of that time, she has been quite happy with the arrangement. She pays for utilities, and each apartment has a separate meter for both gas and electric. There is gas heat, in a forced-air heating system, with each apartment having its own furnace.
Miss Pribbles told us that last winter, which was very cold, her furnace began to malfunction. She called Mrs. Treblinka immediately to request repair. She believes this was in early January, 2014. Mrs. Treblinka sent her son over to look at the furnace. Her son is not a plumber or any sort of trained or licensed repair person. According to Miss Pribbles, the son “banged around” with the furnace and connections, but really made no difference. When the heat did not improve, Miss Pribbles called again several times, and began making notes of the dates and times. Then, after no response, on January 5, Miss Pribbles wrote a letter to Mrs. Treblinka requesting repairs for the furnace, and noting that the temperature in her apartment had fallen to 48 degrees in the day and was 34 degrees at night! Miss Pribbles went out and bought plastic to put over her windows, and added two electric space heaters, though she was reluctant to use these due to all the stories she read about fires caused by such heaters. She sent more letters to her landlady, asking for repairs, including one on January 8 noting that the water had frozen in her toilet that night, and that she was worried about pipes bursting.
On January 12, Miss Pribbles, after a particularly frustrating telephone conversation with Mrs. Treblinka, sent a letter warning that she would withhold her rent money for the next month and use it to pay for a professional to repair her furnace. At that, Mrs. Treblinka sent a letter to Miss Pribbles telling her that if she did not receive a check in full for the February rent on time, that Miss Pribbles would find her belongings set out on the street and all the locks changed! After this angry exchange, Miss Pribbles consulted with our office. We advised her to call the Board of Health, which quickly required the landlady to repair the furnace, since the living conditions in the apartment did not meet the minimum standards under the Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.200 and 410.201.
While Mrs. Treblinka repaired the furnace (January 16), Miss Pribbles is concerned that the landlady is “looking for any excuse” to evict her, and may follow through on her threat to set Miss Pribbles’ possessions out on the curb. Miss Pribbles very much likes her apartment – the location is convenient and she likes the neighborhood and the neighbors. She would prefer to continue living where she is, if she can work with the landlady to resolve the frictions and
disagreements caused by the problems with the furnace last winter. Both sides said things that caused hard feelings and which at least Miss Pribbles regrets.
The Second Case
Do research to locate both the important statutes, but also case law that might help us see how to structure negotiations with Mrs. Treblinka on behalf of Miss Pribbles.
AS ALWAYS, KEEP TRACK OF HOW YOU LOCATE RESOURCES, AND MAKE NOTES ON HOW EASY OR DIFFICULT A PIECE OF RESEARCH WAS USING THE TOOL YOU CHOSE.
Hint: there are many resources online for Massachusetts tenants that might be helpful There is an entire volume of MCLE on Landlord Tenant law and another of the Mass Practice series on this subject.
Do the research and write a short memorandum of law (1 page or so). Be ready to discuss what you found and, most importantly, how you found it. So, take notes along the way about where you looked, terms you used and how searches worked out.
- TAX: Our client, Mrs. K. is separated from her husband and preparing for divorce. She needs to increase her income. She is starting to work for individuals as a private nurse. She wants information on how to deduct the expenses of setting up an office in her home from her income.
We will work on this during class, at the same time you can be working on the case- based problem, because the tax problem requires books, and only one team at a time can do the research.
You will be working with the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reports, or the RIA U.S. Tax Reporter, which are among the largest looseleaf sets. Don’t be intimidated, though. You will find that they are actually easy to work with! Tax Reporter through Westlaw, and not to CCH’s title. I think it’s much easier to understand the sets first seeing them in print, but have no objection to you exploring them online after you see them in print to familiarize yourself with the features. Look for tabs such as “How to use this Set.”).
- CASE: Mrs. K. also has a number of cardiovascular and pulmonary ailments that may be related to her work at XX Hospital. There, she prepares treatments for Alzheimer’s patients. The treatments often include single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), which are extremely tiny, light-weight, manufactured strands of carbon molecules. This has been reported in a number of studies to have a seriously toxic effect when inhaled or absorbed through the skin. We believe we can prove Mrs. K’s ailments have been caused by her workplace exposure to the SWCNT.
Mrs. K explained to us that XX Hospital failed to provide the staff with any training in handling the SWCNT. There are no materials available to advise staff on safe procedures. And there is no equipment such as vents, enclosures or personal ventilators or even masks to prevent inhalation. There are latex gloves in many places at the hospital, but nobody encourages staff to wear them when preparing or administering SWCNT treatments. She has located a NIOSH publication that lists all of these steps as important preventive measures for employee health protection when working with SWCNT.
(turn the page over)

a.. Will Mrs. K be limited to worker’s compensation?
b. If Mrs. K can go beyond worker’s compensation, tell what laws or regulations, and any case law that may help, including any secondary sources or websites. What action(s) might she pursue to improve her working conditions at X Hospital?
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