Legal Question in Personal Injury in Ohio

Can you sue for negligence for carbon monoxide exposure without injury?

The carbon monoxide detector in our house went off after turning

on our furnace. I immediately turned it off and had a company

come to inspect it. The service man did not inspect the flue or use

a CO detector before or after the service to test the CO levels.

Shortly after he left with the furnace on, the CO detector went off

again. I evacuated my family, including an infant, and called the

fire department. They found high levels of CO in the house and

said that they couldn't believe that I had the furnace ''cleaned''

earlier. They had us go to the ER to have blood tests done to make

sure there was no poisoning, which there was not. The next day I

had another company service the furnace and they did a much

more thorough job and also said that the furnace looked like it

hadn't been cleaned or serviced for years. He left after verifying

that the CO level was at zero. Is there potential for a negligence

case against the first company even though there were no physical

injuries? I feel as though they put our lives in danger, especially

the infant, by not doing a legitimate inspection.


Asked on 10/18/02, 1:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Joseph Burke Law Office of Joseph T. Burke

Re: Can you sue for negligence for carbon monoxide exposure without injury?

You may have a claim for negligence against the first company. But without damages, i.e. any permanent injuries, the litigation costs may outweigh any recovery. Without some injury, I would not recommend filing suit. However, I would monitor your family's condition to see if there are any changes.

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Answered on 10/18/02, 1:39 pm


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