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SETTLEMENT: $2 million between two plaintiffs and City of New York. Action on behalf of a third plaintiff is pending. Lateefah Whitfield, an infant, and Nashon Whitfield, an infant, by their mother and natural guardian, Nellie Whitfield; Kareem Mitchell, an infant, by his guardian ad litem, Nellie Whitfield; and Nellie Whit-field, individually v. Pikam Vajdat; Mansour Khayyam; Marsquare Realty Corp.; Carlo Carillo: and City of New York Third-Party Case: Moujan Vabdat and Mansour Khayyam v. City of New York and George Baldwin Oct. 28 Bronx Supreme JUSTICE: Anne E. Targum ATTORNEYS: Thomas P. Giuffra of Barton, Barton & Plotkin, New York, for plaintiff; Mark F. Palomino, Assistant Corporation Counsel, Bronx, for the City of New York; None reported by VerdictSearch for George Baldwin, Carlo Carillo, Mansour Khayyam, Marsquare Realty Corp., Moujan Vahdat, Pikam Vajdat. FACTS: On April 3, 1987, Lateefah Whitfield, a 1-year-old girl, was diagnosed with a blood-lead concentration of 33 micrograms per deciliter - more than three times the safety threshold. On April 9, the New York City Department of Health detected numerous areas of actionable lead levels during an inspection of her residence at 1974 University Ave. in the Bronx. The landlord was given an order to abate the lead hazard. The department of health returned to the premises about a month later, on May 4. The violations had not been corrected, so the city dispatched its emergency repair-services department to abate the lead hazard. The city advised Lateefah's mother, Nellie, that her two boys, Nashon, 3, and Kareem Mitchell, could remain in the apartment during the abatement. The department of health had determined that neither child was suffering from an elevated blood-lead concentration. The health department subsequently determined that the abatement was not performed properly, and that violations remained. Both children developed lead poisoning during the abatement. The apartment was finally certified as lead-free on Aug 12. |
Nellie Whitfiled, acting on behalf of her children, sued the city and the various owners of her apartment: Carlo Carillo, Mansour Khayyam, Marsquare Realty Corp. and Pikam Vajdat. Monsour Khayyam and another owner, Moujan Vahdat, bought a third-party action against the city and another owner, George Baldwin. The owners all defaulted. Defense counsel did not respond to VerdictSearch's faxed draft of this report and a telephone call. Kareem Mitchell's action was severed and is still pending. The city reached a $2 million settlement with the remaining plaintiffs. Lateefah Whitfield recieved $1.5 million, and Nashon Whitfield recieved $475,000. The plaintiff cited Florence v. Goldberg(44 N.Y.2d 189, 404 N.Y.S.2d 583, 375 N.E.2d 762 [1978]), which established that a municipality that exceeds its general duty of inspection, may have voluntarilt assumed a particular duty to use due care for the benefit of infants living in the dwelling. INJURIES: Lateefah's blood-lead concentration peaked at 53 mcg/dl. She is now 18 and attends high school. She claimed the lead poisoning caused her to sustain a loss of 25 IQ points and developmental problems. Nashon's blood-lead concentration peaked at 28 mcg/dl. He claimed his lead poisoning caused permanent learning disabilities. Nashon claimed he had an above-average IQ prior to his lead poisoning, but the he lost 10 IQ points because of it. His best academic prognosis is a GED degree, but he has been unable to complete the program. The city contended the children made good recoveries, and that their residual
injuries stemmed from their home enviornment, rather than lead poisoning. |