Lawsuit: Since 2013, 19 Airbnb renters have died in carbon monoxide incidents

SAN FRANCISCO and SANTA FE, N.M., April 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A Montana family of four alleges in new lawsuits that they were poisoned by a boiler spewing carbon monoxide gas into an Airbnb vacation rental home in Santa Fe, N.M., The Spence Law Firm and co-counsel said today.

Emily and Gary Wrotny, of Gallatin County, Mont., and their two minor children brought personal injury claims against property owners Albert and Deborah Padilla and property manager Kelly Goodgame in New Mexico state court, and their minor child brought claims against San Francisco-based Airbnb, Inc. in California federal court late last week.

According to the court filings, the Wrotny family suffers from a wide range of serious medical and other harm since being poisoned during a weeklong stop while moving cross-country in March 2021. One of their children was left with a permanent brain injury and related cognitive, physiological, behavioral and social abnormalities, the lawsuit asserts.

The Wrotny family arrived at the Airbnb rental in Santa Fe on March 22, 2021 and sensed a strong smell in the home, the lawsuit states, but they assumed the odor might be remnants of cigarette smoke. The next morning, the family sought guidance from the property manager, who confirmed the smell emanating from a boiler in the home. The manager agreed “sometimes it smells weird,” and dropped off an air purifier, the lawsuit asserts. By 10:30 p.m., when Emily Wrotny went to give her infant child a bottle, she discovered the baby unresponsive and covered in vomit, according to the lawsuit. The child was then rushed to a hospital emergency room and hospitalized overnight.

The next morning, the child was discharged from the hospital and the family returned to the home and began to experience headaches and nausea again. More than a day later, according to the lawsuit, Emily Wrotny received a message from Airbnb’s Airbnb Support stating: “I have confirmed that this particular issue since it might be [a CO-related issue] as described by your host [i]s an urgent matter that needs to be handled by a specialized team.” The Wrotny family immediately evacuated the home.

Tyson E. Logan, of The Spence Law Firm, said, “This is an urgent issue. The poisoning did permanent and irreversible damage to this family, especially the youngest child – it will affect them forever. It is devastating and especially frustrating so easily preventable: Airbnb should require alarms, period. And the property owners and manager could have easily installed carbon monoxide alarms in the house but chose not to do so.”

Logan also noted, “Airbnb is well aware of the carbon monoxide threat: At least 19 people have died from carbon monoxide poising while staying at Airbnb rentals since 2013. The company once claimed online, ‘We want to do more,’ regarding carbon monoxide, and it announced that it would require carbon monoxide detectors in its rentals. However, Airbnb still has never required hosts to have alarms in their rental properties. This is purely a business decision that continues to put people at risk.”

The Wrotny family is represented in the California case by Tyson E. Logan and Emily S. Madden, of The Spence Law Firm; of Jackson, Wyo., and Albuquerque, N.M., and Todd M. Logan, of Edelson PC, of San Francisco; and in the New Mexico case by Logan and Madden.

The cases are B.W., a minor, by and through his next friend, Gary Wrotny, v. Airbnb, Inc., Case 3:24-cv-01770 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, and Emily Wrotny and Gary Wrotny, individually and as next friends of B.W., a minor, and A.W., a minor v. Albert Padilla, Deborah Padilla, and Kelly Goodgame, Case No. D-101-CV-2024-0739 in the 1^st Judicial District Court of Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for The Spence Law Firm, LLC, 281.703.6000, [email protected].

SOURCE The Spence Law Firm, LLC