Kiddie Kollege owners, parents settle suit over tots' exposure to toxin for $1 million
The owners and operators of the toxic Kiddie Kollege Day Care in Gloucester County have settled a class-action lawsuit filed by parents for $1 million.
The owners and operators of the toxic Kiddie Kollege Day Care in Gloucester County have settled a class-action lawsuit filed by parents for $1 million.
The case made national headlines and triggered new laws and congressional hearings after New Jersey inspectors in 2006 discovered babies and children playing inside a building that was once a thermometer factory.
When the out-of-court settlement was announced Tuesday, a trial had just begun to determine whether a fund should be established to provide medical monitoring for the nearly 100 children who inhaled mercury vapors at Kiddie Kollege. The vapors can cause neurological and kidney problems.
The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday before state Superior Court Judge James E. Rafferty Jr., who also must decide whether several other parties, including state and local government agencies, should contribute to the fund. The parents contend that the agencies failed to prevent the day care from opening inside a contaminated building.
If Rafferty decides the fund is not warranted, the $1 million settlement could be donated to charity.
Medical experts disagree on whether the children are likely to develop health issues from the mercury exposure. None of the children has symptoms, and attorneys for the defendants say the fund would be a waste of money.
Franklinville real estate broker Jim Sullivan 3d, who bought the abandoned factory in a tax foreclosure and then leased it to day-care operators, has said he misinterpreted an environmental report and assumed the building had been cleaned up.
Sullivan's insurance carrier, U.S. Liability Insurance Co., agreed to pay the $1 million to settle all claims against him, his family, and his businesses, who also were involved in the purchase. The insurer also agreed to use part of that money to settle the parents' claims against the day-care operators, Becky and Stephen Baughman, who had enrolled two of their own toddlers. Becky Baughman was pregnant when the contamination was discovered.
The Baughmans had purchased the day-care business in 2006 from Julie and Matthew Lawlor, the first Kiddie Kollege operators. After Julie Lawlor was convicted of embezzlement charges in North Carolina, she and her husband did not respond to several notices to attend the depositions and trial in Gloucester County.
An undisclosed but small part of the settlement money also will be used to settle the Baughmans' legal claims against the Sullivans, as well as a lawsuit that Kiddie Kollege day-care teacher Vanessa Renzi filed against the Sullivans and Baughmans for her mercury exposure.
Carl Poplar, Sullivan's attorney, said the Sullivan family did "not admit any liability," but agreed to allow the insurance company to settle the case to avoid the cost and time of continuing the litigation.
Jim Sullivan III has agreed to testify, if needed, as the trial continues, Poplar said.
Attorneys for town, county, and state agencies say mistakes were made, but blame one another and the Sullivans for allowing Kiddie Kollege to open without a thorough cleanup. Several township officials have testified that although they were aware of the building's contamination, they felt it was up to the county Health Department and the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue warnings and make sure it was properly cleaned up.