News Archive
Think Mold
It's the next new thing in toxic tort litigation.
Now that asbestos litigation has just about run its course, what is shaping up to be the next big wave in toxic torts? Try mold. A primitive life form, it comes in several ominous-sounding varieties-including aspergillus, trichoderma, and stachybotrys-and thrives in high-cellulose, moisture-absorbing building materials. But for trial lawyers, as well as toxicologists, the most salient point is that these organisms emit toxic metabolites that make people ill. Symptoms range from headaches and respiratory ailments to cognitive dysfunction.
An estimated 2,000 plaintiffs are currently involved in pending toxic mold cases throughout California-a phenomenon that is attributable to scientific advances that have linked mold growths indoors to a variety of health problems.
Southern California's buildings are especially problematic, particularly the older ones, says New-port Beach attorney Court B. Purdy, of Went-worth, Paoli & Purdy, because of both the climate and the building materials that are used. But these cases are pop-ping up in other states as well, as was demonstrated three months ago in Philadelphia where 250 lawyers attended the nation's first national toxic mold litigation conference.
Toxic mold has the power to turn a simple property loss into a high-stakes personal injury suit, with punitive as well as general damages. Just how big is the potential pay-off? Consider Florida, where within the past three years two courthouses contaminated by toxic mold-one in Polk County, the other in Martin County-gave rise to a pair of lawsuits. The first yielded a settlement of $48.5 million; the second, both an $8 million settlement and a $14 million jury verdict, which was later affirmed by the Florida District Court of Appeal.
For the lawyers who litigate them, the toxic mold cases that involve courthouses do, of course, have a certain added poignancy that the others lack. But for Alexander Robertson IV , a Los Angeles-based litigator, that's not the only thing that makes them special. "In my seven years of doing toxic mold cases-cases involving schools, hospitals, commercial buildings, and homes-I've never seen the level of cover-your-ass behavior as I have in the government sector," he says.
Robertson describes a case he's working on now that involves the Visalia Court-house in Tulare County, which became the focus of an intensive investigation two years ago after county officials received a spate of health-related complaints. In all, no fewer than ten reports were produced for the county by December 1999, documenting the extent of the problem. But they weren't made public until February 2000, and by then more than 150 courthouse employees, including several judges, had fallen ill from the mold.
In addition to the Visalia suit, Robertson is juggling five other county government mold cases as well. And even though the Legislature is now considering legislation that would set standards for inspection, removal, and disclosure, the good news for plaintiffs attorneys is that mold is a source of income that's not likely to dry up any time soon. As Robertson observes: "They stopped manufacturing and using asbestos years ago, but mold is naturally occurring; it'll be around for at least the next 100 years."