A Rutland foster couple that sued the state after a botched bedbug extermination in 2013 feels they should be able to seek additional damages from insurance companies.
But the Vermont attorney general’s office says that the family will have to pay for any legal costs the state may incur as a result of those suits, according to the terms of their settlement.
Neil and Patricia Whitney say that a foster child brought bedbugs into their home in 2012. An exterminator hired by the state used excessive amounts of a banned and potentially harmful pesticide.
Neil Whitney says the contamination destroyed their home and most of their belongings, virtually ended their career as foster parents and has taken a huge toll on the family.
“It’s been emotionally draining. It’s always on our minds,” Whitney said.
Last summer, the Whitneys settled a lawsuit with the state for $450,000.
But the couple’s attorney, Karl Anderson, said that considering what his clients had been through, the family also chose to seek additional insurance money.
Vermont Mutual denied paying any damages on the Whitneys’ homeowners’ policy, saying the pesticide contamination fell under a pollution exemption.
The Whitneys sued and a superior court judge ruled in their favor. But Vermont Mutual appealed the decision to the state supreme court where the case is pending.
The Whitneys also sought funds from the Princeton Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance Company. Vermont’s Department for Children and Families uses the company to insure foster parents in case foster children cause damage.
Karl Anderson says that company also denied coverage, citing a pollution exemption, so the Whitneys sued them too, indirectly.
"It's been emotionally draining. It's always on our minds." - Neil Whitney, foster parent
“In order to trigger that insurance we needed to sue — in name only — the foster daughter who had brought in the bed bugs. We weren’t looking to get any money from her personally, but we needed to name her to get the state’s insurance company to fund the damages,” Anderson said.
But Vermont assistant attorney general Eve Jacobs Carnahan says that’s where the Whitneys crossed a line.
An attorney hired to defend the foster child filed suit against the Vermont Agency of Human Services, several of its past and current employees and the Rutland County Parent Child Center. Jacobs Carnahan says the Whitneys will now need to pay for the state’s legal defense in that action.
“When we settled the Whitneys’ original claim last year we paid them a generous settlement and in return for that they gave us what’s called a release,” Jacobs Carnahan said. “So that if the Whitneys brought another suit against somebody else and those people came back to us for relief … the Whitneys would reimburse us.”
Carnahan says considering the amount of the settlement, she was surprised the Whitneys were seeking more money.
Neil Whitney says he resents the suggestion that the family is being greedy.
“By no means are we greedy. I just want people held accountable for their actions and take responsibility for their actions,” he said.
The Whitneys’ lawyer Karl Anderson says he’ll ask the courts to dismiss the third-party claim that’s been filed on behalf of the foster child.
Meanwhile, the state attorney general’s office says they’re waiting for the Whitneys to respond to the state’s demand for legal fees.
