Posted on 06/29/2006 7:43:23 PM PDT by SmithL
Los Angeles -- The father of a 5-year-old asthmatic girl has sued the apartment complex where the family lives in an attempt to stop residents from smoking in common areas.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Superior Court, alleges that second-hand smoke from common areas around the complex have hurt Melinda Birke's health. The areas include the swimming pools, the barbecue areas, the children's playground, the outdoor dining area and the entrances to the rental office and clubhouse.
The girl has had pneumonia three times since 2003, and has suffered from asthma and chronic allergies since she was 18 months old, the lawsuit states.
The family's attorney, Michael Sohigian, said it may be the first time someone has filed a lawsuit attempting to have secondhand smoke declared a public nuisance.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
What a load of crap. Figures it's San Francisco...
Wonder if that barbeque and daddy's perfume might be the triggers.
Doh! I meant LA. Same difference sometimes.
Smoking Nazis suck.
Tobacco smoke, my eye - living in Calif. is hazardous to her health.
My husband has smoked ever since we were married in 1975. Both of us are in fine health. However, should we drive from our place in North Central Florida to Tampa, we both develope a pain in our lungs. Same with any visit to New York.
This suit is just another part of the 'smoke and mirror' act they are playing to misdirect the publics attention from matters of a more serious nature.
This is, of course, just my humble opinion.
TL
Don't like the area ... Move
Instead of everyone else moving why doesn't he move?
Stress. Bet on it.
If you care about your child's health, move. But Cigarette smoke is not like mustard gas.
Exactly so! :-)
I am extremely sensitive to smoke and fragrances myself and unless you suffer from it, there is no way to understand what it feels like when you encounter it, and the stuff it everywhere. Not being able to breather properly is pretty scary. You can go days without food and even water but it's minutes without air.
That being said, I also don't favor legislation to solve every problem in life.
I hope you and your husband live long and healthy lives. Both of my parents died of cancer. They were both smokers. I wish someone would play a smoke and mirrors game to misdirect my attention away from their deaths and toward more serious matters.
It is unlikely the family could find a smoke-free complex. They would need to move into detached housing but that is not realistic.
He's complaining about common areas... I could see a local gov't moving to ban smoking from such common areas. The smokers' freedom to use that still legal (no idea why) product is trumped by the basic health concerns of an in-resident child. This isn't fear of smelling peanut breath on your neighbor.
I'd support his effort. They can privately smoke in their apartments (if allowed by the management), the girl can't be expected to avoid common areas.
I'm sure it's not the heavy smog in Los Angeles that is harming this young girl. It just has to be the second hand smoke.
On second thought, perhaps her folks ought to be arrested for child endangerment.
The smog is perhaps some contributor but you can look out for that easily by keeping watch on your local news and avoiding a lot of outdoor activity on bad air quality days. It's a lot harder to avoid other parents smoking at the kid's playground where you live!
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