Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the ... house? With civil settlements like these involving residences, can huge civil and worker's compensation business claims be far behind?

"Ed McMahon Settles Suit Over Mold for $7.2 Million" read the May 9, 2003 headline of the Los Angeles Times, California section, Valley Edition. The article by Times staff writer Jean Guccione went on to describe how the mold caused a respiratory illness in the McMahon's dog that resulted in it being put down. It also forced Ed, his wife Pamela and their staff to move out of the 80-year-old, 8,000-square-foot Coldwater Canyon house due to illnesses.

Ed spent four months on antibiotics for coughing, sneezing and congestion, but his health did not improve until he moved out of the house on doctor's orders. The suit against an insurance company alleged "breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional stress" after contractors failed to properly clean water damage from a broken pipe and the toxic mold that formed in the flooded room about a month later spread through the house. "It spread through the heating and air-conditioning ducts to their bedroom, invading their closets and contaminating their clothes, according to the suit." Repairs will include replacing walls and treating beams. A representative stated that he was not sure that the award would even cover the McMahons' loss, and estimated that "McMahon spent several hundreds of thousands of dollars on expert witnesses alone."

The article reported that this is the largest known final settlement based on injuries trom toxic mold, but reported other multi-million dollar civil case awards. They including $2.7 million in 2001 to a couple and their son in a Sacramento apartment for personal injuries, and $32.1 million in 2002 to a Texas family for damage to their home. That award was reduced to $4 million, and is on appeal.