Mold victim awarded $500,000

August 13, 2010

By Staff reports

Daily Telegram

Posted Aug 10, 2010 @ 11:25 AM

ADRIAN, Mich. — An woman won a $500,000 judgment Monday in Lenawee County

Circuit Court for a moldy bathroom she said seriously damaged her health.

A default judgment against owners of Four Seasons Apartments on South Winter

Street was awarded to Dawn Royal and her two sons.

The judgment was requested by their attorney, Sheldon of Farmington

Hills, after the apartment complex owner failed to take any action to defend the

suit since an attorney withdrew from the case on April 8.

asked for a $500,000 award for Royal, arguing " toxic mold " she was

exposed to for nearly a year in the apartment building left her disabled and

shortened her life. He requested $25,000 apiece for her two sons who he said do

not have long-term health damage as serious as their mother's.

Royal filed the lawsuit in 2008, claiming that black mold in the bathroom of an

apartment at Four Seasons left her with debilitating illnesses and unable to

work.

told Judge Margaret M.S. Noe that Royal was recently approved for Social

Security disability benefits and that doctors have told Royal her life will be

significantly shortened because of her exposure to the mold.

" I pass out spontaneously. I can't drive any more, " Royal testified. She listed

a number of illnesses she has contracted since she was exposed to the mold in

2005 and 2006.

" My immune system has been decimated, " she said. " The immune system damage is

progressive. I'll never get better. "

Royal testified she has undergone 20 outpatient surgeries to remove growths and

is awaiting reconstructive surgery on her left arm to remove lumps growing

there.

According to the lawsuit, mold grew in drywall in her apartment bathroom after

water leaked from the apartment above it on June 26, 2005. Building owners sent

a work crew on May 22, 2006, to rip out drywall in the bathroom, spreading

mold-infected dust throughout the apartment, the suit claimed. Royal stated she

moved out on June 3, 2006, but her health has continued to deteriorate.

An attorney who was defending the lawsuit withdrew after a legal battle

developed between two companies over ownership of the apartment complex.

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