JURY FINDS LINK BETWEEN LEAD POISONING AND PLAINTIFF'S INJURIES, AWARDS $3,500,000.00
Burns v. Housing Authority of Louisville
Jefferson Circuit Court, Louisville Kentucky
Attorneys for Plaintiff: Glenn A. Cohen, Carl D. Frederick, Steven M. Frederick and William Robinson
Liability Facts: In 1991, Julius Burns, 5 ½ months old, moved with his family into a Housing Authority of Louisville (HAL) property. One of the buildings on the site was a circa 1920 two-story brick structure, which had been painted with white lead based paint. In 1993, at approximately 21 months of age, Julius was tested and determined to have an elevated blood lead level (EBL) of 30 micrograms per deciliter (10 micrograms per deciliter constitutes lead poisoning as defined by the EPA).

HAL was notified of Julius' EBL. HAL was required by law to survey the site and determine the source of the lead. Once the source of the lead was identified, HAL was required to abate the lead, or in the alternative, move the child and his family to a lead-free environment within 14 days. HAL did neither.

More than a year later, the soil at the site was tested and found to have a lead content of as much as 154,000 pans per million (ppm). 500 ppm is the designated "level of concern," which triggers the necessity of removal of the child from the lead environment or abatement of the lead.

Another year passed before HAL removed the highly contaminated soil, and then did so under the guise of a sidewalk replacement project, following none of the safeguards required by law for the abatement of lead contaminated soil. The source of the lead in the soil was determined to be the exterior paint on the old building at the site. The peeling and flaking paint was tested at 47% lead on the east wall and 61% lead on the north wall (1% lead requires abatement under the law).

HAL did not inform Julius' family of the extensive lead level in the soil where Julius played, and in fact, did not even inform them that there was any lead in the soil. Julius and his family ultimately moved, at their own request in 1999. This lawsuit was filed at about that time. In early 2000, HAL finally saw fit to abate the lead paint at the old building and to once again remove the lead in the now re-contaminated soil.

Injuries / Disabilities: Mental retardation, ADHD. Children under the age of seven years are most susceptible to lead poisoning. Lead poisoning has been shown over the course of many years, in scores of studies, to cause neurologic damage resulting in reduction in intelligence and other neuropsychological disorders such as ADHD. Julius was diagnosed as being mentally retarded, with an IQ of 66 and suffering from ADHD. Plaintiff's experts and Julius' treating physician all opined that Julius's ADHD and mental retardation were the result of his being poisoned by lead.
RESULT: Jury Verdict $3,500,000.00 Loss of future earnings: $500,000; punitive damages: $3,000,000
Special Comments:    This case is currently on appeal.