Philadelphia Housing Authority faces lawsuit over lead paint poisoning

A former Philadelphia resident who claims he became injured by inhaling lead paint at a city-owned housing complex is suing the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Through his civil complaint, which was filed Aug. 22 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by attorneys Louis T. Silverman and John R. Trotman, Jr., of the Philadelphia law firm of Silverman Trotman & Schneider, LLC, Phillip Dickerson alleges that while residing at the housing complex at 3210 McMichael St., from January 1992 to December 1992, he got lead poisoning.

Dickerson, who is currently an inmate at the state prison at Camp Hill, Pa., claims in his suit that he suffered bodily and brain injury, mental injury, and pain and suffering because of the lead exposure, injuries that caused him to spend various sums of money on medical care and attention.

The lawsuit also claims that Dickerson is required to undergo continuous medical and psychological monitoring, “the cost of which should be borne by defendant through the establishment of a court-supervised fund financed by defendant.”

The lawsuit accuses the Philadelphia Housing Authority of negligence, stating that the defendant would have been aware of the fact that its properties contained the presence of lead-based paint and the risk that ingestion of lead would pose on children in particular.

“Defendant had various duties with regard to lead-based paint and defective paint and the subject premises, including the duties to inquire into the presence of and to repair lead-based paint hazards and/or defective paint hazards at the subject premises and to repair or remove same, which duties were imposed by law,” the lawsuit states.

Dickerson demands judgment against the defendant in an amount exceeding $50,000, plus attorney’s fees, cost and expenditures, sums, delay damages, pre-and-post-judgment interest and other court relief.

The case number is 110803312.