The residents of a condo building where 12-year-old Trai Schlichter succumbed to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning Feb. 4, 2018, are suing the builder and property management company of the 136-unit complex.
A statement of claim for a class action lawsuit was filed April 29 on behalf of the unit owners, tenants and sub-tenants at the Crown Shores condo complex, located at 700 Willow Brook Road. The suit seeks $16 million in damages against FirstService Residential – the building’s property management company – as well as the builder, CPI Crown Properties International Corporation.
“The lawsuit is filed on behalf of everyone who was sick, or died or otherwise harmed by the negligence of those two entities,” said Mathew Farrell, a lawyer with the Guardian Law Group, who is representing the residents in the lawsuit.
“Undeniably, the person hit hardest was this little boy and the people who were hurt the most were his family, but the whole community was affected.”
Schlichter died of CO inhalation after the poisonous gas made its way into his family’s condo unit.
In the week after the tragedy, an investigation concluded some of the building’s on-demand hot-water heaters were not ventilating properly, leading to a build-up of carbon monoxide.
While Airdrie RCMP determined the tragedy was non-criminal in nature, Farrell said the oversight was due to the builder’s negligence.
“The builder didn’t build the property correctly,” he said. “Specifically, what they did was put separate instant hot water heaters in each unit, but in many cases, did not bother hooking them up to their respective chimneys so they would vent outside.”
The statement of claim alleges FirstService Residential was aware of the issues with the hot-water heaters, but failed to inform residents of the potential risks. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
To make matters worse, many of the building’s units were not equipped with CO detectors until after Schlichter’s death, according to Farrell.
The Feb. 4, 2018, incident was the second CO leak at the condo complex, following an incident in 2014. A third leak took place Feb. 9, 2018 – just five days after Schlichter’s death – and resulted in another evacuation of tenants.
While the safety issues that led to the leaks have since been fixed, according to Farrell, and CO detectors are now installed at the complex, he said the building’s reputation has led to a depreciation of property values, as well as other financial difficulties for tenants.
“People had to move out and live in hotels for a time. People lost tenants, either temporarily or, in some cases, permanently,” he said. “People had to make repairs or buy equipment such as carbon monoxide detectors to protect themselves.
“A lot of people either couldn’t sell their homes or had to carry the property for a longer period of time and pay two mortgages…or take a lower price.”
Farrell said the situation highlights the necessity of ensuring property management companies are held to account.
“You’re giving up a lot of power and control over your own life to this entity that is supposed to protect you and your neighbours,” he said. “It’s a surprising amount of power. People don’t generally think of management companies as being that important – they think they collect the fees and shovel the snow, or whatever.
“But this tragedy underlines just how important it is that we make sure those entities do their job right.”
According to the statement of claim, upon being served, the defendants have 20 days to file a statement of defence.
A representative from the agency of record for FirstService Residential responded to a request for comment with a statement that confirmed the agency was aware of the suit, but would not be commenting as it is a legal matter.
