Defective Apartment Heater / Carbon Monoxide

Our premises liability attorneys prosecuted an action against a residential landlord for cognitive impairment suffered by a mother and her adolescent son following chronic carbon monoxide exposure in their rented apartment. Our clients experienced daily exposure at injury-producing levels of CO as a result of a malfunctioning gas-fired apartment wall heater. The landlord of the rental dwelling failed to regularly inspect, maintain and repair the heater in the Oakland apartment. The apartment did not have a carbon monoxide detector. As a result of the chronic carbon monoxide exposure, our clients suffered mild irreversible brain damage, including deterioration in executive function, concentration and emotional damages. Walkup Melodia’s lawyers settled the action prior to trial in the full amount of the landlord’s liability insurance of $1 million.