LOS ANGELES (REUTERS)–As Johnny Carson’s sidekick, entertainer Ed McMahon was famous for his infectious laugh. But as a homeowner, he says he is involved in a drama that has left him seething.
McMahon, 79, is suing his home-insurance company for $20 million, claiming it botched a simple repair on a broken pipe and, as a result, allowed a toxic mold to spread through his house, making his family sick and killing his dog.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, McMahon, who for years served as Carson’s sidekick on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” said he, his wife Pamela, and household staff members have been battling illnesses as a result of exposure to a mold known as stachybotrus chartarum. He also said the family dog, Muffin, died as a result of a mold-induced infection.
The suit is the latest in a recent spate of litigation over toxic mold infestation, a recently recognized phenomenon, which is believed to cause serious illness particularly in the respiratory tract and even death.
The suit names Scottsdale, Arizona-based American Equity Insurance Co., a unit of Citigroup Inc. as a plaintiff as well as several Southern California contractors who were to clean up the mold. A spokeswoman for American Equity declined to comment Wednesday.
According to the suit, a pipe burst last July in McMahon’s estate in the posh Coldwater Canyon section of Los Angeles, causing his den to flood. McMahon made a claim under his policy with American Equity, which arranged to clean up the damage caused by the flooding.
“What started out as a simple plumbing leak ended up a horrific nightmare only Stephen King could write about,” McMahon’s lawyer Allan Browne told Reuters. He added that the mold spread through the house with a high concentration in the main bedroom.
The lawsuit charges the contractors painted over visible mold and failed to provide the McMahons with environmental reports related to the levels of mold infestation, despite repeated requests for documentation.
In addition, another contractor hired by the insurer to store the McMahons’ furniture, artwork and television memorabilia has not to date returned the items despite repeated requests to do so, and the McMahons do not know where their belongings are being stored, Browne said.
“They took away 50 years of memorabilia, all of their fine art, all of the couches, chairs, every stick of furniture–we don’t even know where any of that is located. The clothes were taken out and they were supposedly cleaned and it took months to get them back and once they got them back we found out cleaning had been done improperly. It’s just been a nightmare,” Browne added
