Jury awards $2.4m in drywall trial

The defendant, drywall distributor Banner Supply Co., is named in thousands of other lawsuits. Attorneys in those cases, as well as many others pending against other companies, will look to the Seifart damage award as a guide for what kinds of damages they seek.

Defective, sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall has been linked to possible health problems along with a noxious odor, corrosion of wiring, plumbing, computers, plumbing, and jewelry. Most of the problems have arisen in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in homes built during the housing boom and some damaged during the busy 2005 hurricane season.

The Seifarts, who have two young sons, left their five-bedroom home in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood last year so that it could be gutted and renovated. Their lawyer, Ervin Gonzalez, said the couple were not told of problems with the Chinese drywall in March 2008 when they moved in.

The Seifarts accused Banner of concealing knowledge it had as early as 2006 that Chinese drywall was defective, including recommendations from manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjian that the wallboards should not be used. Many of those details emerged in this trial after a confidential agreement between Banner and Knauf was unsealed.