On October 18, 2007, a nonsmoking condominium owner filed suit against her broker and the seller of the unit, alleging that, before she agreed to purchase her condominium unit, they had withheld from her the information that secondhand smoke was emanating from the unit below the unit she was purchasing.  Alleging that she would “never have purchased the Unit had she known the truth about the source of the smoke, the smoke has aggravated her asthma, caused her serious health problems, and effectively destroyed her enjoyment of the premises and the habitability of the Unit.”  Burrage also sued the trustees of her condominium association, alleging that they did nothing when she formally requested that they act to correct a “hazardous condition’ affecting her unit.  Shortly before trial, Burrage and the condominium association settled for an undisclosed sum, as did Burrage and a neighbor.  The jury trial began on February 9, 2010.  See Saltzman, J., “Suit Over Secondhand Smoke Targets Real Estate Broker,” Boston Globe, February 9, 2010.  On February 16, 2010, the jury returned a verdict for the Defendant broker.  See Saltzman, J., “Woman Loses Second-hand Smoke Case” Boston Globe, February 17, 2010.

Suffolk (MA) Superior Court No. 07-4578-E (2007).