Commercial Property Owners: Mold Litigation Due to Mold Sickness Is On the Rise

Mold Litigation

In 2002, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported that according to one estimate, US insurers paid over $3 billion in mold-related lawsuits, more than double the previous year’s total. According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2003 there were over 10,000 mold-related lawsuits pending in US state courts. Most were filed in states with high humidity, but suits were on the rise in other states as well. By 2004, many mold litigation settlements were for amounts well past $100,000. In 2005, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported that toxic mold showed signs of being the “new asbestos” in terms of claims paid. In 2012, a key appellate court in Manhattan found a consensus in the scientific literature for a causal relationship between the presence of mold and resultant illness.

In 1999, an Austin, Texas, woman was awarded $32 million when she sued her insurer over mold damage in her 22-room mansion.

In 2001, a jury awarded a couple and their eight-year-old son $2.7 million, plus attorney’s fees and costs, in a toxic mold-related personal injury lawsuit against the owners and managers of their apartment in Sacramento, California.

In 2003, The Tonight Show co-host Ed McMahon received $7.2 million from insurers and others to settle his lawsuit alleging that toxic mold in his Beverly Hills home made him and his wife ill and killed their dog. That same year environmental activist Erin Brockovich received settlements of $430,000 from two parties and an undisclosed amount from a third party to settle her lawsuit alleging toxic mold in her Agoura Hills, California, home.

In 2006, a Manhattan Beach, California family received a $22.6 million settlement in a toxic mold case. The family had asserted that that moldy lumber had caused severe medical problems in their child. That same year, Hilton Hotels received $25 million in settlement of its lawsuit over mold growth in the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Kalia Tower.

In 2010, a jury awarded $1.2 million in damages in a lawsuit against a landlord for neglecting to repair a mold-infested house in Laguna Beach, California. The lawsuit asserted that a child in the home suffered from severe respiratory problems for several years as a result of the mold.

In 2011, in North Pocono, Pennsylvania, a jury awarded two homeowners $4.3 million in a toxic mold verdict.

Source: Wikipedia; free to use as per Creative Commons.

Aspen Environmental Services recommends having mold removed by professionals who can get rid of the problem completely and prevent it from coming back. Aspen professionals are licensed and insured and members of the National Association of Remediators and Mold Inspectors (NORMI) and the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA).

Please contact Aspen Environmental Services for professional mold testing and removal at (978) 681-5023. Or email [email protected]