PHILADELPHIA – The parents of a Philadelphia child have filed a lawsuit after the child allegedly suffered from lead toxicity from exposure at his Philadelphia elementary school.
D.P., a minor by his parents and natural guardians Cristine and David Pagan, filed a complaint Dec. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the School District of Philadelphia, the city of Philadelphia, Watson T. Comly School and others, alleging violation of the 14th Amendment and negligence/recklessness.
According to the complaint, D.P. was enrolled in kindergarten at Watson T. Comly Elementary in April of 2017. In the fall of 2017, his first-grade teacher noticed D.P. was eating paint chips that had fallen from the ceiling.
He was then tested on Nov. 13, 2017, and found to have 46 micrograms of lead per deciliter in his blood and was admitted to the hospital for lead toxicity.
The school, which was constructed in the 1890s, then tested positive for lead-based paint concentrations that exceeded federal government standards, the suit states.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory, punitive and exemplary damages; a trial by jury; interest and all other equitable relief. They are represented by D. Alexander Latanision of Levy Konigsberg LLP in New York and Adam Green and Stephen Specht of Green and Schafle in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:19-cv-05799