Less than a year after moving into her Buckhead home, Lyall Sailor was struck by a series of mysterious illnesses.
Sinus problems, respiratory infections, frequent headaches and nosebleeds. Her skin itched like crazy, and her hair started falling out.

Sailor says she was tested for lupus, Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, cancer and other conditions. She tried several doctors and alternative therapies. Nothing worked.

Finally, after five years of illnesses, she had her home's air-duct system checked in 2002. Inspectors found the home contaminated with high quantities of mold.

Sailor sued a heating and air conditioning services firm for allegedly causing the problem. Last week, after a five-day trial, a Fulton County jury found the company liable and awarded her $556,000.

Legal, insurance and mold experts believe Sailor, 36, has become the first plaintiff to win a mold case in a jury trial in Georgia history. Her ordeal, meanwhile, has turned her into a crusader for state legislation to help protect consumers who confront mold problems in their homes.

The defendant in the case, R.S. Andrews Services of Atlanta, says it plans to appeal.

Mold and its potential damage to health and finances recently have seeped into the public consciousness.

Consumer complaints about mold have surged over the past five years, says Henry Slack, indoor air coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in an eight-state region, including Georgia. And flooding caused by the recent hurricanes has left a trail of mold in many dwellings.

"There is more awareness by the American public that mold can cause health problems," Slack says.

That awareness is causing more litigation, says Hutton Brown, Sailor's attorney.

The publicity over mold has been accompanied by debate over its health effects. Earlier this year, the national Institute of Medicine issued a report that concluded there was an association between damp indoor conditions and some respiratory problems. The IOM panel left many more questions about mold unanswered because of a lack of sufficient evidence, including possible associations with fatigue, cancer and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

While the panel urged more research, one clear message was sent: When found indoors, mold is potentially harmful and should be eliminated.

Sailor started her own mold education two years ago, when the air-duct technicians opened up the floor vents in her home.

"They dislodged two to three feet of this black slime," she says. "It was pretty horrifying to realize what I was breathing."

Later tests found high amounts of airborne mold.

"It was one of the worst homes we've been in," says David Bennett of Southeastern Environmental, a Marietta mold testing and consulting firm.

Sailor says she then tested positive for mold allergies. Three physicians and two industrial hygienists told her to vacate the house, which she did, in March 2002.

Sailor, who buys, sells, leases and manages commercial real estate, filed a lawsuit against R.S. Andrews, which installed a new HVAC system in her basement about six months after she bought the house. That was before her illnesses began, she says.

The installation was improper, her lawsuit contended, with the system placed on a dirt basement floor, instead of being mounted on blocks. As a result, she says, the HVAC blew moisture and dirt throughout the house. The ductwork wasn't completely sealed, either, she says.

R.S. Andrews President Jack Dowling defended the company, saying, "Trust, value and reliability are the only way we know how to do business. ... R.S. Andrews' dedication to excellence is unparalleled in our industry."

An attorney for R.S. Andrews, John Choate, says the company admitted breach of the contract on the HVAC installation. But he also says "there was no excessive mold in that house for which she tested positive on any medical test."

Sailor disputes that assessment. She adds that the company didn't make a credible attempt at fixing the problem, offering what she calls "a Band-Aid."

She faced a financial squeeze. She had bought the home for $160,000 and had sunk an additional $75,000 to $100,000 into it. She was sick and running out of money, living in an apartment and still paying the mortgage and utilities on her toxic home, which couldn't be sold in its present condition.

The only recourse, she says, was to pursue litigation.

When the case finally came to trial, Sailor felt great anxiety.

"I prayed hard, and my family and friends prayed hard," she says.

The jury deliberated almost three hours. The verdict was among the best moments of her life, Sailor says.

"My two-year fight was suddenly validated by those 12 people."

Jury foreman Steve Welsh says: "It was pretty easy to make a decision in her favor. There was no question with any of us. Everyone agreed she had been wronged. It was just deciding how much it was worth."

No one has lived in the house since Sailor moved out. An overpowering musty stench permeates the rooms. Her ruined furniture, clothing and other possessions remain inside.

"I lost my whole past in that house," she says. "Photographs, awards, my college diploma, everything."

Sailor's health has clearly improved but hasn't returned to normal. And she isn't going to give up her fight for consumers with mold problems.

She helped draft a bill, expected to be introduced in the 2005 Legislature, that would create a state commission to license mold testing and remediation firms, and hear consumer complaints.

She has been contacted by many Georgians experiencing mold problems.

"I felt I had to help other people who had this happen to them," she says. "I felt it was my responsibility."
 

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