News

December 12, 2023

Congratulations to Wiedner & McAuliffe partners Zach Vaughn, Brent Salsbury, and their team for an extraordinary defense verdict for our commercial landlord client after a one-week jury trial in St. Charles County, Missouri!

Our client owned a 75,000-square-foot property with Plaintiff being a tenant for six years. Plaintiff, 47, alleged her unit contained toxic mold due to years of building water intrusions. Plaintiff argued her exposure to mold was years long and caused brain fog, heart problems resulting in a pacemaker, sinus surgery, chronic and excessive joint and muscle pain, fatigue and headaches, and damage to her immune system. Three treating physicians testified live at trial and connected all of Plaintiff’s injuries to mold from our client’s building. The defense argued that, regardless of the years of water, the only evidence of mold was one day, when substantial mold was discovered in Plaintiff’s unit. Plaintiff argued the mold had been present for years and, had our client performed testing after all the water intrusions, it would have been discovered years earlier.

Plaintiff’s last settlement demand was $6 million. Our last pre-trial offer was $85,000. At closing arguments, Plaintiff blackboarded $300,000 in past medical and lost wages, and substantial future treatment, and told the jury it needed to value past and future pain and suffering. Our team requested a complete defense verdict, arguing no liability and no causation. The jury was out for 45 minutes before returning a complete defense verdict of no liability.

Congratulations to Zach Vaughn and his team, and our client, for the big win!

If you have any questions on this decision, please contact Zach Vaughn by email at czvaughn@wmlaw.com or phone at 312-855-1105.