Also on Brick...
Booty calls rattle condo

Plenty of women complain about doormen who seem a little too interested in their private lives. Somewhat rarer are those who insist on private time with their men in uniform.
Real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey tells us that he was contacted recently by a condo board confounded by a serial propositioner.
The problem involved a married female condo owner conducting afternoon booty calls targeted at doormen--romancing them with lines that included, “I need to be f----- by one of you now."
Bailey penned a more delicately worded cease-and-desist letter to the woman.
The letter pointed out that according to the condo’s bylaws, she is liable for any money the condo spends to get her to stop her overtures (presumably including the cost of the letter itself) and the amount the board might have to spend defending itself in a lawsuit by the doormen.
"It seems to have done the trick so far," says Bailey, who was prepared to seek a protective order against the woman.
So what kind of legal jeapardy did the resident's behavior thrust upon the condo?
We asked Aaron Shumelwitz, a real estate lawyer who has managed the fallout of consensual affairs between staff and residents. (Earlier post: The $100,000 love affair: How your super's sex life can cost you money)
“If an employee is subjected to a hostile work environment,” Shmulewitz says, “there could very easily be a sexual harassment claim against the employer even though it’s obviously not the condo demanding sex from him--like if he notified the condo board of the woman’s demands and it failed to take steps.”
Overall, according to Shmulewitz, situations like these are far less common than unwelcome advances by building workers.
Related links:
The $100,000 love affair: How your super's sex life can cost you money
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
Send to friend






The classical case of a bored housewife who obviously isn't getting any at home. Hubby is probably too busy working late......with someone else maybe? I personally have never dealt with a proposal by any woman in my building. But the staff of many buildings see this often. Tenants reach a very comfortable level after so many years of seeing one person at the door, or running a building, because of this they tend to tell us things that do reach a personal level. Certain conversations do become a pushing of the limits to possibly see what may happen. I have been put in awkward positions before, no pun intended, regarding going up to a tenants apartment because of some problem. I say awkward and uncomfortable because while in the apartment attending to whatever is going wrong, we see a tenant in their environment, feeling at home. This may involve them wearing some short shorts, or spandex, or the one told to me by a handyman where the woman had just stepped out of the shower and was covered by a robe. Sounds good, but was there any reason for her to practically lean over him while he fixed something underneath her sink, exposing much for the handyman to see? One situation I was FACED with involved a lady wanting me to change a lightbulb in her living room, early in my doorman career. I went up to the apartment, and she offered to change the bulb herself. All she wanted me to do was hold the ladder for her. She stepped on the ladder and needless to say I was eye level with her "cash money box" if you know what I mean. Two things wrong with this. She was older than me, and she was wearing spandex having just finished working out. It is a rarity for a doormen to fully get involved with someone from their building. I personally have never tried to cross a line for fear of two things. One, my marriage, and two, simply losing my job. Who is to say that after some time, the whole "come up and do me thing" gets tired and the tenant may not like that. Therefore they turn around and make a statement about the handyman, doorman, or super having harassed them in some fashion? What we normally hear about and deal with are more on the lines of "keep quiet". This is what one tenant wants us to do regarding their extra activity. I've had a tenant approach me and just asking for me to not say anything while their better half was away. Another incident garnered me sixty dollars by a gentleman who was alone for the weekend while his girlfriend and the owner of the apartment, wasn't at home.