On Monday, March 2 attorneys on behalf of homeowners with defective toxic drywall brought suit in Miami-Dade federal court seeking compensation and relief from builder, distributor, and manufacturer defendants. The plaintiffs' legal team is led in Florida by Ervin Gonzalez of Colson Hicks Eidson, who has successfully resolved several large Florida class actions. Mr. Gonzalez's work has resulted in millions for those injured by taking fen-phen produced by American Home Products, compensation for home-buyers who received substandard dwellings built by Tripp Construction, and a $100 million settlement against the largest funeral home operator in the nation.
This lawsuit involves defective Chinese drywall that distributors and home-builders imported into the U.S. and installed into a large number of Florida homes built between 2004 and 2006. The drywall is causing serious problems for homeowners because it is emitting several sulfide gases into the home. In addition to creating noxious, "rotten egg-like" odors, the gases cause the accelerated corrosion of air conditioner and refrigerator coils, kitchen appliances and utensils, electrical wiring, electronic or computer devices, and other metal surfaces and household items. Long-term exposure to low-levels of sulfides has also been associated with several health conditions including fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory, dizziness, and reproductive issues. Mr. Gonzalez has teamed up here with other attorneys with national reputations in resolving major complex cases such as Michael Hausfeld of Hausfeld LLP who served as class counsel for the Native Alaskans in the Exxon Valdez Litigation and Arnold Levin of Levin Fishbein who was co-lead counsel in the $5B nationwide Diet Drug settlement. Additional co-counsel include Robert Gary from Sandusky, Ohio, Richard Serpe from Norfolk, VA and Richard Stimson of Bradenton, FL.
The suit seeks broad based relief for the full array of damages suffered by homeowners, ranging from repair and replacement and property devaluation damages to medical testing for illness related to the drywall exposure.