BELLEVILLE - A family claims they were poisoned by carbon monoxide and are blaming a dislodged furnace exhaust pipe, according to a lawsuit filed against a roofer they are allege was partly responsible.
Amanda and Eric Zimmerman filed suit Nov. 1 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against roofer, Luis Perez who was hired as a sub-contractor to carry out work on the property on Main Street in Red Bud. The couple also filed on behalf of their now five-year-old minor child, AZ.
The suit alleges negligence on the part of the sub-contractor. The couple has already filed separate but similar suits against the landlords, Kay and Hugh Wacker, as well as contractor, T. Fuller Construction.
The Record was not able to contact Perez prior to publication.
According to the suit, the plaintiffs, on or before Dec 21. 2017. were "poisoned by high levels of carbon monoxide gas, emanating from the third-floor furnace and the exhaust system."
The complaint states that on that date Amanda Zimmerman contacted the City of Red Bud to complain about a smell of gas at the Main Street property.
City inspectors arrived and discovered dangerously "high levels of carbon monoxide in the residence," about 500 parts per million (ppm) on the third floor of the property, according to the suit, which adds that they also identified a disconnected exhaust pipe attached to the furnace to be the source. That level of exposure can cause death, the suit states.
T. Fuller Construction was carrying out roofing work on the property and its sub-contractor Perez dislodged the pipe, the Zimmermans claim. They believe the gas was escaping from the beginning of the heating season through Dec. 21.
"Plaintiffs suffered permanent brain and/or other organ damage as a result of exposure to toxic levels of carbon monoxide," the complaint alleges. Each of the plaintiffs has and will suffer pain, disability, and loss of normal life.
They are claiming the negligence causing personal injury for allowing the pipe to break or separate, and for failing to warn. They are seeking more than $50,000 in damages.
The plaintiffs are represented by Gordon S. Johnson of the Brain Injury Law Group of Sheboygan, Wisc.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 2019-L-765.