Did Lead Paint in Apartment Cause Child's Injuries?

Facts: Tenant moved into an apartment in February 1997, when her child was 21 months old. Nine months later, paint on the walls and ceiling began to bubble and peel, and paint dust accumulated on the windowsills and baseboards. At times, the child played with the paint bubbles and put his fingers in his mouth after they became covered with dust. In 1997, a blood test showed that the child had 4 micrograms of lead per deciliter in his blood. By September 1998, his blood lead level had risen to 10.4 micrograms, and six weeks later it was 12.6. Tenant then notified landlord that she believed her child had lead poisoning, and in March 1999, landlord abated the lead paint condition. The child’s blood lead levels then went back down to 10. In 2000, the child was tested, and by 2003 was diagnosed with autism and mental retardation. Tenant then sued landlord, claiming that the child’s condition was caused by the lead paint in the apartment. Landlord asked the court to dismiss the case without a trial, based on a doctor’s opinion that the child’s slight and briefly elevated blood levels were in a border zone and didn’t cause his impairments. The court ruled for landlord and dismissed the case. Tenant appealed.

Court: Tenant wins. Landlord’s doctor relied on a 1991 report by the Centers for Disease Control. But this report, and the doctor’s opinion, by themselves, didn’t prove that the lead paint didn’t cause the child’s condition. Tenant’s medical experts had presented other scientific articles concluding that lead paint exposure in the range of the child’s exposure could cause cognitive injuries like the child’s in this case. More proof was needed at trial to determine the facts.

Bygrave v. NYCHA: NYLJ, 9/3/09, p. 33, col. 5 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Gonzalez, PJ, Mazzarelli, Buckley, Renwick, Abdus-Salaam, JJ)