New York Lead Poisoning Lawyer Obtains $4.8 Million Damages Award for Lead Poisoned Child

Lead poisoning lawyer from Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, obtained a $4.8 Million damages award in a lead paint poisoning case on behalf of a twelve year old girl who was brain damaged as a result of exposure to lead-based paint from peeling and chipping paint in her Brooklyn apartment.

NEW YORK, New York, July 11, 2011 - New York lead poisoning lawyer from the New York City-based personal injury law firm of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, obtained a damages award totaling $4.8 Million on behalf of Dalila Gray, currently 12 years old, who was lead poisoned.

Over a 16-month period, when Dalila Gray was 2 and 3 years old, she was exposed to peeling and chipping lead-based paint and lead paint dust hazards in the apartment where she lived with her family at 63 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

The New York City Department of Health inspected the apartment in 2002 in response to a notification from Dalila's pediatrician that she had a blood lead level of 17 micrograms per deciliter (mg/dcl) of blood. This value was well above the threshold definition of lead poisoning in the NYC Health Code of 10 mg/dcl. The Health Department found numerous locations of deteriorated, peeling and chipping lead based paint and issued a mandatory Order to Abate the hazardous conditions to the owners and managers of the building. The owners were given 5 days to comply with the Order and remove the lead based paint hazards.

Nonetheless, the landlord/owners and managers of the building, failed to respond to the violations issued and remove and repair the lead based paint violations for almost 5 months. During this time Dalila Gray continued to be exposed to the hazardous lead based paint conditions and continued to be lead poisoned.

As a result of the lead poisoning, which caused her brain damage, Dalila Gray has performed poorly academically and has exhibited behavioral problems causing sustained, significant impairments in her ability to pay attention, to focus and learn both in and out of school.

Her lead poisoning has caused major learning disabilities and negatively impacted her ability to retrieve previously learned material. She also has significant deficits in her academic knowledge.

If not for these learning disabilities, Dalila would have scored 1 to 4 grades higher on standardized tests of academic knowledge administered to her by plaintiff’s expert clinical psychologist.

Dalila’s lead poisoning has caused her to exhibit severe behavioral problems adversely affecting her school performance. As a result, she was required to go to summer school and Saturday school.

She is currently in 6th grade and has been performing below grade level. Her teachers have consistently noted her potential, but, at the same time, that she is often distracted and has difficulty paying attention, which has led to her falling behind her classmates. Dalila scored 2 years and 4 months below grade level in a test of academic knowledge encompassing science, social studies and humanities.

As result of her lead poisoning, plaintiff’s medical experts concluded that Dalila will not be able to advance beyond the 12th grade. However, in the absence of her learning disabilities, caused by her lead poisoning, she would have been able to complete a 4 year college education and obtained commensurate employment.

In the light of this evidence, the court awarded Dalila, the infant plaintiff, the sums of: $750,000 for past pain and suffering; an additional $750,000 for her lifetime of future pain and suffering, and finally, awarded the sum of $3,300,000 for her lifetime loss of future earning capacity. The total award by the court to Dalila was $ 4.8 million.
 
All of these delays, deficits and learning disabilities sustained by Dalila Gray are, unfortunately, common occurrences when young children who are exposed to and poisoned by hazardous lead based paint.

For more information about this or other lead poisoning lawsuits, please contact Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, LLP, at 212-605-6200 or 1-800-988-8005, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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