Associated Press. SoCal family wins record $22.6 million toxic mold settlement

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Posted on Fri, Nov. 04, 2005

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SoCal family wins record $22.6 million toxic mold settlement

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A family won a record $22.6 million settlement in a case in

which they alleged that toxic mold in their home caused brain damage in their

infant son.

" $22.6 million, certainly in a single-family home (case), would be the

largest in the country, " said P. Boucher, president of the Consumer

Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.

The highest portion - $13 million - was paid by the Crenshaw Lumber Co. Inc.

of Gardena, which was one of 17 defendants. The plaintiffs alleged that the

company improperly stored framing studs, allowing mold to grow which then

contaminated the home that was being built in Manhattan Beach.

Crenshaw Lumber settled on Oct. 19, the day after a Los Angeles Superior

Court judge barred the wood supplier from using 10 of its 17 experts, including

a toxicologist and microbiologist, said attorney D. Witzer, who

represented the Gorman family, who were the plaintiffs in the case.

Neither Crenshaw nor any of the other defendants admitted liability.

" We wish to emphasize that had the judge not excluded important expert

witnesses from testifying ... we believe that the jury would have completely

vindicated the company, " Crenshaw said in a statement.

Barring the experts would have proved fatal to the defense, said Costa Mesa

attorney S. Salinger, co-chair of Rutan & Tucker's construction law

practice group.

" It's tantamount to not having a jury hear both sides of the story, " he

said.

The case is unusual not just for the settlement amount but also because

contractors, not suppliers, are generally held responsible for construction

defects, Salinger said.

Experts predicted the settlement will lead to more such cases.

The Gormans' son, Kellen, was born three months after they moved into their

custom-built home in September 1999. They lived there for about two years.

Kellen, now 5, functions as a 1 1/2-year-old and needs 24-hour care, Witzer

said. He blamed the boy's developmental problems on mold.

But Los Angeles attorney D. Fraser, who defended a sheet metal company

in the suit, said Kellen's doctors concluded he suffered from autism - a

condition for which there is no known cause.

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Information from: Daily Journal