$5 Million Recovery Against Foster Care Agency That Left Infant in Lead-Painted Home
A foster care agency placed a one-year-old child in a Brooklyn home that contained lead paint. They kept him there after his blood lead level tested at 32, six times the CDC's danger level. They kept him there while the foster mother was actively renovating and painting the home. They only removed him a month later when his blood lead level retested at 54.6, nearly eleven times the danger level. The Orlow Firm pursued the foster care agency and the City of New York. The agency's defense rested on its records, but those records told the story for us. The Orlow Firm walked the case through the agency's own files documenting what they knew and when, and recovered $5 million for the child.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What Happened
Our client was placed by a foster care agency into a Brooklyn foster home in early 1999. He was just under a year old, with his mother and an older sibling. He was at the age where he was learning to crawl and walk and putting things into his mouth.
How We Won
This case was about what the agency knew and when. Adam Moses Orlow, our Managing Partner, walked the case through the agency's own files.
The first blood test, on August 16, 1999, returned a lead level of 32. The New York City Department of Health inspected the foster home and identified lead paint in 29 different locations. The agency did not remove the child. The agency also knew the foster mother was in the middle of a home renovation, including painting, while the child remained in the apartment with documented lead in his blood.
The blood test dates. The Department of Health findings. The records confirming the foster mother's ongoing renovation. The lack of any decision to act. Each piece was in the agency's own paperwork. It was only when the second blood test came back at 54.6 a month later that the Department of Health intervened and forced the removal. The hospital admitted the child for chelation therapy and refused to release him until the agency located a lead-free placement.
The Injuries
The child was placed on chelation therapy, which had to be paused when he developed a high fever. A test of the iron-lead interaction in his blood came back at 130, a value indicating sustained exposure rather than a single acute event. He was held in the hospital for six days. In the years that followed he required continuous treatment for severe developmental disorders, including diagnoses of severe ADHD and an impulsivity disorder, substantial cognitive delays, and episodes of violence that resulted in seven psychiatric hospitalizations. He was placed in special education classes and was functioning at a third-grade level at seventeen.
The Result
The Orlow Firm recovered $5 million for the child. The money is structured to fund the supervised living, medical care, and support he will need across his lifetime.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a foster care agency's negligence or by lead exposure in a New York home, contact The Orlow Firm at (646) 647-3398 for a free consultation.
