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 by keeping the air conditioning at 70 degrees.
Toby Cohen and Dr. Johnathan Neman said their families suffered “unlivable” conditions at Edouard Gass and Agnese Melbarde’s $1 million luxury home in Southampton between August 22 and September 5.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the New York State Supreme Court, Cohen and Neman alleged they were “forced to endure non-stop discomfort for the duration of their vacation” after Melbarde and Gass turned the home’s air conditioning down to 70 degrees instead of how 68 degrees desired by the families.
“In essence, rather than attempting to fix the issues, which were entirely within their control, Melbarde and Gass were telling the plaintiffs and their children to suck it up and deal with it,” the lawsuit reads.
“The situation was more akin to the treatment of the plaintiffs as squatters, who Melbarde and Gass sought to evict from the property by rendering it uninhabitable, uninhabitable and unsafe.”
New York attorney Toby Cohen (left) and dentist Johnathan Neman (right) claim their families’ vacation was ruined after the owners of the Southampton home they rented for $10,000 refused to take the temperature of the Lower air conditioning from 70 to 68
Manhattan portfolio manager Edouard Gass (left) and research analyst Agnese Melbarde (right) rented their $1 million home to the families for two weeks
Cohen and Neman claimed they were treated like squatters because of the air conditioning and faced “uninhabitable” conditions in the luxury home
The drama between the rich began back in July, when both Cohen and Neman signed a $10,000 lease for the two-week stay at the swanky Southampton home.
The two-story home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fireplace, and an outdoor pool, but Cohen and Neman said the large home was served by a “single, small air conditioner.”
“The plaintiffs, one of whom is eight months pregnant, and their children, all under the age of eight, tried to endure the uncomfortably warm temperatures for several nights, but finally, on August 27, 2022, requested that Melbarde making a minor adjustment to the temperature to allow for a setting of 68 degrees at night to allow the plaintiffs to sleep comfortably,” the lawsuit states.
Cohen told the Daily Beast Melbarde ultimately turned down her application, claiming the air-conditioning was locked because previous tenants had skyrocketed electricity bills.
‘ She basically said, ‘I don’t do it. I don’t want to blow up the unit,’ he said. “That’s the point where I lost my mind.”
Gass, a Manhattan portfolio manager, and Melbarde, a research analyst at Lazard, were also accused of violating Southampton’s borough ordinance, which prohibited the letting of a property to more than one family at the same time.
Cohen and Neman have asked the court to return their $10,000 rent payment and fine Melbarde and Gass for violating city ordinances and preventing them from ever renting the house again.
Neither Gass nor Melbarde immediately responded to ‘s request for comment.
Gass and Melbarde were also accused of breaching Southampton’s Municipal Code, which prohibited letting a property to more than one family at a time
The two-story home, which rented for $10,000, has three spacious bedrooms
It also has a wood fireplace and an outdoor pool in the yard
The nature of the lawsuit from Cohen and Neman is not uncommon in the Hamptons, as several New York elites have filed similar complaints in recent years.
Last year Cantor Fitzgerlad commercial manager Paul Pion sued the owners of a $5 million home in Southampton he rented for $120,000 a year for trying to evict him and his wife.
In 2014, hedge fund manager Brian Feuer filed a lawsuit against Philippe Chow founder Stratis Morfogen, who had rented his home in Southampton for $106,000 for three months.
Feuer had claimed his two- and three-year-old children had contracted mold in the home after staying there for just a day.