A New York City attorney and his dentist friend have filed a lawsuit against a Swedish hedge fund manager for ruining their vacation at his $10,000 Hamptons rental because he kept the air conditioning stuck at 70 degrees.
Toby Cohen and Dr. Johnathan Neman alleged that their families suffered ‘uninhabitable’ conditions inside the $1 million Southampton luxury home of Edouard Gass and Agnese Melbarde between August 22 to September 5.
In the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court on Wednesday, Cohen and Neman claimed they were ‘forced to endure continuous discomfort for the duration’ of their vacation after Melbarde and Gass kept the home’s AC locked at 70 degrees instead of the families’ desired 68 degrees.
‘Melbarde and Gass, rather than attempting to help rectify the issues that were entirely in their control, essentially told Plaintiffs and their children to suck it up and deal,’ the lawsuit states.
‘The situation was more akin to Plaintiffs being treated as squatters that Melbarde and Gass were trying to remove from the Property by making it unlivable, uninhabitable, and unsafe.’
New York City attorney Toby Cohen (left) and dentist Johnathan Neman (right) claim their families’ vacation was ruined after the owners of the Southampton home they rented out for $10,000 refused to lower the air conditioning temperature from 70 to 68
Manhattan portfolio manager Edouard Gass (left) and Research analyst Agnese Melbarde (right) rented out their $1 million home to the families for two weeks
Cohen and Neman claimed they were treated like squatters and dealt with ‘uninhabitable’ conditions inside the luxury home because of the air conditioning
The drama between the wealthy began back in July, when both Cohen and Neman signed a $10,000 rental agreement for the two-week stay at the swanky Southampton home.
The two-story home has three bedrooms, two baths, a fireplace and exterior pool, but Cohen and Neman said that the large home was served by a ‘single, small air-conditioning unit.’
‘Plaintiffs, one of whom’s wife is 8 months pregnant, and their children, all of whom are under the age of 8, attempted to endure the uncomfortably warm temperature for several nights but on August 27, 2022, finally requested that Melbarde make a minor adjustment to the temperature to allow a setting of 68 degrees at night to allow Plaintiffs to sleep comfortably,’ the suit states.
Cohen told the Daily Beast that Melbarde ultimately refused their request, claiming that the AC was locked because previous renters had run up the electric bill.
‘She basically said, ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t want to blow out the unit,’ he said. ‘That’s the point at which I lost my mind.’
Gass, a Manhattan portfolio manager, and Melbarde, a research analyst at Lazard, were also accused of violating Southampton’s municipal code, prohibiting leasing of a property to more than one family at a time.
Cohen and Neman have asked the court to return their $10,000 rental payment and to penalize Melbarde and Gass for violating the town’s code and prevent them from ever renting out the home again.
Neither Gass nor Melbarde immediately replied to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Gass and Melbarde were also accused of violating Southampton’s municipal code, prohibiting leasing of a property to more than one family at a time
Cohen and Neman’s type of lawsuit is not uncommon in the Hamptons as several New York City elites have filed similar complaints in previous years.
Last year, Cantor Fitzgerlad trading executive Paul Pion sued the owners of a $5 million Southampton home he had been renting for $120,000 a year for trying to kick him and his wife out.
In 2014, hedge fund manager Brian Feuer filed a lawsuit against Philippe Chow founder Stratis Morfogen, who rented his Southampton home for $106,000 for three months.
Feuer had claimed his two- and three-year-old children got sick from mold contamination in the home after staying there for only a day.