Liability, awards and settlements

7.11, toxic mould, settlement

US: a family who claims toxic mold in their home caused brain damage in their baby has reached a $22.6mn settlement against a lumber company and 16 other defendants. The parents of the baby claimed that he became sick because of mold on framing studs that had been improperly stored by the lumber company which agreed to pay $13mn of the settlement. The studs were used in the custom-built Manhattan Beach home the family lived in for about two years beginning in 1999. The child, now five, functions as a one-year-old and needs 24-hour care.