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The Lydell Glendale TCE lawsuit
Three tenants at Glendale's The Lydell apartments were sold on luxury living, but they're suing the owners for failing to inform them of a cancer-causing chemical in the building.
GLENDALE, Wis. - Three tenants at Glendale's The Lydell apartments were sold on luxury living, but they're suing the owners for failing to inform them of a cancer-causing chemical in the building.
The lawsuit centers on the fact that the company allowed people to move in before completing testing for TCE.
One former tenant said even after moving out and feeling symptoms consistent with TCE exposure, what she wants most is accountability.
"We were so excited," said Kate Vlahoulis.
Vlahoulis and her family thought they'd found their new home; a brand-new apartment at The Lydell. Then they learned air samples from the complex, which was built on top of a former landfill, contained elevated levels of the cancer-causing chemical trychloroethylene, or TCE.
Vlahoulis said management never mentioned it when she toured in April.
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"Absolutely nothing, and I wish they would have," said Vlahoulis. "We would have never moved there."
Vlahoulis is one of three renters suing Cypress Bayshore Residential, the company that built The Lydell, because the company allowed tenants to move in before completing TCE testing as recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
"What's pretty clearly stated in the email is that there were economic concerns," said Michael Cerjak, Vlahoulis' attorney.
Citing an email from Cypress employee John Ausburn, the complaint accuses the company of rejecting the North Shore Health Department's draft letter to tenants informing them of the situation in favor one of that, "Doesn't make it sound like the tenants have had a month-long exposure to the plague."
Vlahoulis and Cerjak said all they're after is accountability.
"The accountability is so important here because it will also then impact, potentially, cases in the future so that this situation can never happen again," said Vlahoulis.
"There needs to be some deterrent from this happening in the future over and over again," said Cerjak.
Glendale The Lydell
A spokeswoman for Cypress Bayshore Residential said the company cannot comment on the lawsuit.
Cypress has until mid-September to respond in court.