Plaintiffs, who are parents of a four-year-old son, brought a civil action in nuisance against a neighbor who “chain smokes in her apartment,” which is located next to the Plaintiffs’ apartment.  The Plaintiffs claim that the secondhand smoke from Huff’s apartment “fills the common hallway shared by Plaintiffs (and their four year old son) and Defendant on a daily basis.”  Plaintiffs seeks compensatory and punitive damages, and an injunction “requiring Defendant to immediately cease and desist from causing smoke to enter into the common hallway shared by Plaintiffs and Defendant, and to immediately take whatever steps are necessary to prevent second-hand smoke from entering the common hallway.”   See Hartocollis, A., “A Lawsuit Aimed at the Chain Smoker Next Door,” New York Times, February 9, 2008, A15.

Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, No. 102185/08 (2008).