Mom: Mold Killed Daughter, Sues Landlord for $65M

NEW YORK (AP) -- A woman who says her daughter was killed by poisonous mold growing inside her Manhattan apartment has filed a $65 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the daughter's landlord. Mattie Quailey, administrator of the estate of Lorraine Woods, filed the lawsuit against the management of Henry Phipps Plaza South, a 396-unit complex in two buildings in the Kips Bay neighborhood.

Papers filed in state Supreme Court last week say Woods, who lived for 24 years on the 28th floor at 444 Second Ave., was "continually exposed to dangerous mold and fungi" and died Oct. 1, 1998, as a result. Quailey's lawyer, Steven Goldman, said Tuesday that Woods, 58, a substance abuse counselor for the Veterans Administration, died of organic failure because toxins overwhelmed her body and caused its systems "to shut down." Quailey's lawsuit says the Phipps management company, which has the same name as the complex, knew about the toxic molds but "failed and refused to take any steps to remedy the situation" and never notified Woods about the danger to her health. Phipps' lawyer, Mark Landman, did not return telephone calls for comment. Water leakage has caused green, purple and black airborne mold spores to grow on and behind walls in bathrooms and kitchens and in air conditioning units, Goldman said. Hundreds of Phipps' 1,300 residents have suffered skin rashes, infected lungs and mouths and bleeding from their noses and gums, he said.

The molds are types of fungi -- Stachybotrys atra and aspergillus -- which can be fatal to small children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, Goldman said. Some tenants have had tests that revealed antibodies for some of the fungi in their bloodstreams, indicating long time exposure to the molds, he said. "The Phipps people have known about the water leakage since 1973, and they've known about the molds at least since 1993, maybe earlier," he said. Goldman said Phipps' management complains that the water leakage problems in the 30-year-old federally subsidized buildings are too expensive to fix. The buildings, one 33 stories and the other 13 stories, house low- and moderate-income people. The residents include many city employees in clerical and maintenance jobs. The other building is at 330 E. 26th St. Quailey's lawsuit is the fourth to allege that the mold caused someone's death and that the landlord was responsible for failing to remove it. Goldman said the first seven of nearly 160 lawsuits against Phipps will begin Monday. He said the cases will be heard at one trial but the jury will return seven verdicts.