CHARLESTON – A Charleston law firm has sued the neighboring gentleman’s club for damages caused by a water leak that affected some sensitive business documents.
Kesner & Kesner and KKB LLC filed its complaint June 15 against Mahesh Patel, Charleston Eatery Inc. dba The Elite Gentleman’s Club and M2M Properties Inc.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff owns and operates the firm at 112 Capitol Street. The Elite Gentleman’s Club is located next door at 116 Capitol Street, and the buildings share a common wall.
On February 12, members of the law firm noticed standing water in its basement where sensitive documents are stored. When the plaintiffs and the real estate manager inspected the issue, they discovered the water was coming from the same side of the building as the common wall with the defendants’ building.
The complaint says the law firm tried to dry out and remove the water from the basement, but it says the water continued to spread through March, April and May until the filing of the lawsuit.
The firm also hired an engineer, who determined the damage resulted from the defendants’ improper maintenance of their building. The firm has tried to contact the defendants so the engineer could inspect the property to identify a solution. But, they say the defendants have failed or refused to respond.
The complaint also says this is at least the fifth time in 22 years the plaintiffs’ property has been damaged due to the failure of the defendants or their predecessors to maintain and repair their property.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages for actual damages, repairs, annoyance, inconvenience and partial loss of use of their property. They also seek punitive damages and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Brent K. Kesner and Anthony E. Nortz of Kesner & Kesner. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-485