Chicago jury awards $24.1M to family after children suffer lead poisoning in CHA housing
Chicago jury awards $24.1M to family after children suffer lead poisoning in CHA housing
A jury awarded $24,141,000 to two children who suffered lead poisoning while living in a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Scattered Site apartment in Rogers Park.
CHICAGO - A jury awarded $24,141,000 to two children who suffered lead poisoning while living in a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) Scattered Site apartment in Rogers Park.
The verdict, delivered on Jan 15, came after a six-week trial. The jury allocated $20.6 million to 6-year-old Amiah McGee-Collins and $3.5 million to her 10-year-old brother, Jah’mir Collins.
"These are children who had their futures robbed from them," said Matthew Sims, shareholder & partner of Rapoport Weisberg Sims & VanOverloop, P.C. "The stakes are so high and the damage—it's done, it's permanent and it's irreversible. There are no re-dos when it comes to lead poisoning."
Lead Poisoning Lawsuit
What we know:
The two children lived in a CHA unit at 7715 North Marshfield Avenue, where a roof leak, deteriorating paint, and long-documented lead hazards went unaddressed for decades, according to the lawsuit.
Evidence presented during the trial revealed the CHA had been aware of lead-based paint dangers in the building since its purchase in 1979. Multiple children in the same unit had been poisoned by lead over the years, yet records reportedly show that the CHA failed to mitigate the hazards.
Even after federal and city investigations in the 1990s and 2000s identified lead-based paint risks, the CHA took no corrective action, the lawsuit claimed.
Sims, who is representing the family of children, says as a result, they suffered irreversible damage that will last a lifetime.
"Not only was this not disclosed that there was lead paint in this unit, it was never disclosed that numerous other children had been poisoned in this building—and in this exact same apartment," Sims said.
In 2014, Shanna Jordan and her family moved into the unit, unaware of its history. Along with Jordan and her son, Jah’mir—who was a newborn at the time—Jordan’s older daughter, Morgan Collins also lived there. Collins later welcomed Amiah (Jordan’s granddaughter).
As time went on, Sims says the family noticed the otherwise healthy children were regressing developmentally.
"When Amiah was two, she could say the ABCs. She could count to 30. She could write her name," Sims explained. "By age three, the symptoms had become so bad that she couldn't say the ABCs anymore. She couldn't count to 10. She could no longer write her name. She was forgetting things, and she was becoming hyperactive and having issues with emotional regulation."

The jury allocated $20.6 million to 6-year-old Amiah McGee-Collins and $3.5 million to her 10-year-old brother, Jah’mir Collins.
By 2019, Jordan’s son, Jah’mir, was diagnosed with lead poisoning, followed by her granddaughter, Amiah, whose blood lead level was nearly 10 times the CDC reference limit.
The CDC's Blood Lead Reference Value (BLRV) is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, but there is no safe level of exposure to lead, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Jah’mir’s lead level in his body was 13. Amiah’s was 34," Sims said.
Furthermore, Sims says X-rays showed the lead in Amiah's system had reached her bones.
"When lead gets into the bones, it stays there for decades and it slowly leaches out over time," Sims said. "When it leaches out, it goes right back into the blood and right back into the brain."
During the trial, testimony from experts, including Dr. David Jacobs, former head of HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control, highlighted what he called the CHA's gross negligence in failing to provide safe housing or disclose lead hazards as required by federal, state, and city regulations.
Internal CHA communications revealed that even when inspectors reconfirmed lead risks in 2017, the information was withheld from tenants, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claimed the CHA attempted to shift blame to the private property managers it had hired and even the children’s mothers, who had lodged over 50 complaints about conditions in the unit.
"How many children have to be poisoned before you get it right? Well, the answer should be zero," Sims said.
Lead Poisoning Effects
According to health officials, lead poisoning can lead to brain and nerve damage; decreased mental ability and learning difficulties; speech, language and behavior problems, hearing problems, anemia, high blood pressure, reduced growth, kidney damage, digestive problems, and reproductive problems in adults.
What they're saying:
"This case cried out for justice. For decades there has been a comprehensive federal regulatory regime that is intended to prevent children from being lead poisoned in the first place. The reason is clear, lead poisoning causes irreversible damage to children that causes lifelong problems. What happened to these children was completely avoidable if only the CHA had followed the law," said Matthew Sims, an attorney for the family.
"Instead, the CHA chose to implement a system it was aware violated the federal lead regulations, and which it should have known would fail its residents who were entitled to know if their family was in danger," Sims added.
Sims concluded, "There is no good reason for even one child to be lead poisoned, but for these children to be the 4th and 5th in this same building is a complete tragedy. The CHA needs to have a moment of self-reflection after this verdict and think about what it will do to make sure this never happens again."
Fellow attorney Melanie VanOverloop expressed hope that the verdict would spark reform within CHA.
"My greatest hope is that this case illuminates the problems within the CHA regarding Lead Paint Disclosure requirements and prevents more children from being lead poisoned in CHA housing. Every child deserves to live in a home that is free of lead-based paint hazards," VanOverloop said.
The Chicago Housing Authority released the following statement:
"While we continue to express sympathy for the Jordan and Collins families, the Chicago Housing Authority is disappointed in the verdict and we are reviewing our options."
FOX 32 Chicago asked the CHA what steps they've taken to ensure no one else living in the building suffers lead poisoning, but did not receive a response to that question.