Confidential
Settlement – $3,825,000Court
Alameda Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Steven J. McDonald
(Greenstein & McDonald)
Kenneth M. Greenstein
(Greenstein & McDonald)
Defendant
John G. Wilcoxson
(Skane Wilcox LLP)
Experts
Plaintiff
James Craner
(medical)
James M. Hansen
(technical)
Michael D. Shotwell
(technical)
Daniel J. McNicoll
(technical)
Francis J. Offerman III
(technical)
Michael Eggman
(technical)
Claudio Bluer
(technical)
Arthur Slater
(technical)
Joseph W. DeCarlo
(technical)
Diane Peterson
(medical)
A. James Montgomery
(technical)
Defendant
Janet S. Weiss
(medical)
Frank E. Schmidt
(technical)
Mr. E. Robert Miller
(technical)
Andrew E. Saxon
(Fisher & Phillips LLP)
(medical)
Edward J. Faeder
(technical)
Robert J. Kent
(technical)
Facts
According to the plaintiff: The plaintiffs were 124 tenants representing more than 40 units, who resided at nine separate buildings at the Park Hill Apartments in an unincorporated section of the northeast side of Hayward. Some of the plaintiffs first filed this action for injunctive relief, nuisance, negligence, breach of contract, personal injury, racial discrimination, sexual harassment and other damages, including punitive damages, in July 2001. The first amended complaint was filed in November 2001 and the second amended complaint was filed in May 2002. Another lawsuit was filed in January 2003 and the two lawsuits were consolidated in Spring of 2003. The Park Hill Apartments are owned by Rodney Busk and the Rodney Busk Trust. Busk and his wife, Irene Busk, reside in Montague, a rural area north of Mount Shasta. Busk effectively manages the Park Hill Apartments from Montague. The other defendant, Freddy Rivas, was a maintenance worker at the Park Hill Apartments from 1997 until Sep. 5, 2001. Rivas is not a licensed contractor and had the task of trying to maintain the property. Busk was a licensed general contractor for the subject property. The property was built in 1967 and opened for business at that time. He owns other properties and complexes in Northern California. The defendants have performed some cosmetic work over the years but did little to address the code violations, structural and systemic problems or security concerns of the tenants. Moreover, there was lack of maintenance performed on the property which was defectively designed and poorly constructed with cheap building materials. Severe mold infestation in many of the units caused the tenants to suffer health problems, including asthma, other breathing problems, upper respiratory problems, skin problems, headaches and sinus difficulties. Other dangerous conditions included gas leaks, raw sewage leaks, rodent and cockroach infestations, defective furnaces, plumbing and rainwater leaks, defective heaters, life-threatening electrical hazards, collapsing walls and ceilings, broken windows, broken door and window locks, and a long list of other housing and building code defects. Busk and his agents, according to the plaintiffs, consistently misrepresented and ignored the conditions at the Park Hill Apartments. Water damage was concealed, as an example, with paint. Another example, when a down spout rotted away from the roof, they removed it and let the water fall against the building. The African-American and African tenants alleged that the landlord, Busk, discriminated against them based on their race and national origin. Many of the plaintiffs were also retaliated against by Busk and his agents for complaints about the habitability defects and their participation in the lawsuit against the defendants. The lawsuit also alleged that some women tenants were sexually harassed by a maintenance worker employed by Busk and that Busk did nothing to correct the problem. Rivas was sued for alleged sexual harassment of a few of the female tenants. Rivas denied the allegations and denied that he could be liable as a matter of law. Rivas was dismissed as part of the settlement with the Busk defendants, but no separate offers were made on his behalf.
Settlement Discussions
The case settled for $3,825,000 for the 124 plaintiffs.
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