Virginia Family Sues For Personal Injury From Pesticide Use

The Virginia Supreme Court recently heard an appeal in the case of Kaltman v. All American Pest Control, Inc., a case that has been in the Virginia court system since the lawsuit was initially filed 2008. The court ultimately decided that the Kaltmans, the plaintiffs in the case, had a valid negligence cause of action and personal injury claim for APC’s inappropriate use of pesticides in their home.


The Kaltman’s had been using American Pest Control, Inc. (APC) to treat and prevent pest infestations in their home since 1996. In October of 2006, an employee of APC visited the Kaltman’s home to administer a regularly scheduled treatment. Prior to administering the treatment, the APC employee had used a strong pesticide that was not fit for residential use at a different location. The employee failed to properly clean his equipment before administering the treatment in the Kaltman’s home. This caused remnants of the commercial grade chemical to be sprayed onto the baseboards and untreated concrete floor in the Virginia residents’ home.

After the treatment was administered, the Kaltmans noticed a strong, pungent odor that permeated throughout their home. The Kaltmans contacted APC to inform them of the odor. APC told the Kaltmans that the wrong treatment had been used, but that the chemical used in their home was not toxic. The Kaltmans later sustained injuries from making contact with the chemical when they attempted to scrub their baseboards and floor in an effort to reduce the odor. Ultimately, the Kaltmans were forced to leave their home for one year as it was made inhabitable due to the fumes from the commercial grade pesticides.

The Kaltmans filed a personal injury lawsuit in the Virginia Circuit Court in 2008 alleging that APC was negligent in administering a chemical pesticide in their home which was not fit for residential use. The Circuit Court dismissed their claim, stating that the matter was a contractual dispute rather than a personal injury case. The Virginia Court of Appeals also rejected the Kaltman’s claims. It was only after the Kaltmans appealed to the highest court in the Commonwealth that the court took notice of the fact that the Kaltmans had a cause of action and overturned the decisions of the lower courts.