ABSTRACT
People who have been made ill by poor air quality inside their homes or offices will generally try to remedy the offending condition themselves, instead of resorting to litigation for recovery of damages. However, where their illnesses have been serious and prolonged, or where fixing the situation is likely to be expensive and difficult, people have sued the manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of the house or building materials that caused the illness. For example, there have recently been a number of lawsuits from homeowners in many states—including Maine, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Oregon, West Virginia, and Minnesota—for damages arising from urea-formaldehyde foam insulation; some of these law-suits have been class-action suits. 1 Outcomes have ranged from removal and replacement of the insulation to money awards to compensate for asthma and chronic respiratory diseases. People have also sued employers who have allowed unhealthy conditions to remain after being notified of them. 2
