Insider's Pop Quiz!

Question: Can an office building tenant sue the building’s owner because of poor air quality?

Answer: Yes. It’s not unusual for building owners to be the prime target of a “sick-building syndrome” lawsuit, even when a tenant causes the indoor air quality (IAQ) problem. In fact, many tenants’ employees would rather sue an owner than the tenant to avoid workers’ compensation limits on claims against their employer or to avoid creating bad relations with their employer.

And IAQ problems aren’t necessarily covered by an owner’s insurance. Consider what happened in Florida. An office tenant’s employees sued the owner, claiming that air contaminants from a poorly designed air-conditioning system caused them to suffer from illnesses related to sick-building syndrome. The employees tried to settle with the owner’s insurer, but the insurer refused to settle, claiming that the owner’s insurance policy didn’t cover pollution.

The insurer then sued the owner, claiming that it had no duty to cover the owner for these claims. The owner responded that the pollution exclusion in its policy didn’t apply, because the owner wasn’t the “polluter.” But the court ruled that the insurance policy was clear—the insurer had no duty to cover or defend the owner [Firemen’s Insurance Co. of Washington, D.C. v. Kline & Son Cement Repair, Inc., February 2007].

For Model Lease Language you can use to protect yourself from IAQ-related lawsuits, see “Lease Provisions that Cut Risk of Indoor Air Quality Problems,” available in our online archive.