Toxic Mold Sickens Family in Luxury High-Rise
Lawsuit alleges negligence led to severe health issues for NYC family.
A family of four is suing the management of an Upper West Side luxury apartment building, claiming toxic mold exposure caused severe health problems, including pus-filled lesions on their young son. The lawsuit alleges negligence and disregard for the family’s well-being.
Initial Concerns Ignored
**Jae Donnelly**, a photographer originally from Britain, reported his concerns about a possible mold infestation in their two-bedroom apartment within the Sessanta high-rise on West 60th Street as early as January 2024. According to the suit, Align Management allegedly failed to address the issue, allowing the mold to spread.
According to **Donnelly**, the mold was discovered when a handyman fixed a leak in January 2024. Although workers replaced sections of the wall and flooring, a mold test was never conducted, despite his requests. The lawsuit claims Align Management did not properly fix the leak, resulting in the mold spreading throughout the apartment.
“I’ve never been around people like this in my life that showed total disregard for the health of my family, and it was appalling and really upsetting,”
**Donnelly** told The Post. “And my children were just expected to put up with all of this. It was heartbreaking.”
Health Problems Emerge
Living unknowingly in the contaminated apartment, **Donnelly**, his wife—a Julliard-trained cellist—and their two children, ages 10 and 2, experienced several health issues. These included allergies, chest pains, vertigo, and extreme fatigue, which often kept their daughter out of school.
Most alarmingly, his infant son developed pustules, pus-filled patches of bumps, on his buttocks and genitalia, causing him significant pain. The EPA notes that infants and children are especially vulnerable to mold exposure EPA.gov.
Recurring Leaks and Inadequate Remediation
Eleven months later, another leak prompted workers to return. Initially blaming a faulty dishwasher, they discovered mold “bubbling away” on the wall behind the couch. **Donnelly** disposed of the sofa immediately. He says the mold had spread into the walls, floors, and kitchen cabinets.
During remediation, large sections of sheetrock were removed, but precautions were not taken to prevent the spread of dust and mold. “This was at the height of my wife breastfeeding,”
**Donnelly** said. “They brought in a fan to try and dry it, and that blew all the sheetrock dust and insulation fibers everywhere in the apartment — all over my son’s milk sterilization stuff.”
Despite the building’s assessor deeming the problem resolved, **Donnelly** hired his own inspector who found high levels of toxic mold, including Stachybotrys and Chaetomium spores. Further investigation revealed a persistently wet insulation behind the walls.
Family Relocates
Blood tests showed that **Donnelly**, his wife, and their older child had high levels of mycotoxins, including satratoxin. Their doctor suspected their younger son was also affected through breastmilk. The family was forced to move back to the UK in May.
“Unfortunately, for **Jae** and his family, they are suffering as a result of their landlord’s failure to properly remedy the building leak when they were first notified in January of 2024,”
said their attorney, **Eric Malinowski**. “The fact that the leak reoccurred and mold developed in the same area of their apartment 11 months later is proof that the building and their management company failed to properly address the situation.”
“Life was rosy before this happened,”
**Donnelly** stated. “The sun was shining, and we didn’t expect it to rain.”
