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.
1 Answer from Attorneys
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.