East Dundee firm sued after family hospitalized for CO poisoning

A Sleepy Hollow woman has sued an East Dundee plumbing and heating company for damages after she and her two children were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.

In a recently filed lawsuit in Kane County, Molly Robinson argues Lifeline Plumbing, Heating and Cooling was negligent and responsible for damages after she and her children, ages 5 and 8 at the time, were taken by ambulance to the emergency room of Advocate Sherman Hospital on Jan. 21, 2015.

Lifeline had cleaned and inspected a boiler at Robinson's home on Nov. 14, 2014, and again on Jan. 13, 2015, according to the lawsuit.

Robinson's lawsuit argues that Lifeline's decision to bypass a damper on the boiler caused "severe" carbon monoxide poisoning for the family.

"Mrs. Robinson and her two children were overcome and poisoned by carbon monoxide gas, which has been seeping and infiltrating throughout the room over an extended period of time," the lawsuit argues. "The introduction of poisonous carbon monoxide into a home where individuals are sleeping is something which does not normally occur on the same day as a boiler is repaired in the absence of negligence."

James Kiss, the attorney representing Robinson in the lawsuit, declined to comment.

A message left at Lifeline was not returned.

Robinson seeks unspecified damages of more than $50,000.

The two sides are due in court on March 23.