HELP !!!!!!

There is a young lady in Houston that was severely bit by either fleas or bedbugs in her previous residence. She showed me a letter from her physician stating such as another sheet showing meds to take.

The scarring is PITIFULL. She will never work as a massage therapist, wera shorts, sleeveless shirts or be attractive to another guy. Can anyone help her? She is Thai and as such speaks Thai but prefers to speak in english. She has no funds for an attorney but I would think she's available to talk to an attorney who would take her on $1 retainer.

This is a slam dunk for a major lawsuit.

Help me help her please.

B.

Who does she plan on sueing, if this took place at her residence?

Assuming by previous residence she rents guess possibly the landlord. However she will have to prove she did not introduce the bedbud or flea infestation herslef.

Wish I had a copy of the article on bed bugs I read about 6 months ago. HUD has determined that a bed bug epdemic has come back to America. Primarily due to more people traveling abroad, more used furniture especially mattresses and improper cleaning of hotel rooms.

Should be a concern for the ladies.

Flea bites shouldn't have left bad scars unless they were really scratched. Do you think that they may fade on her?

Poor girl.

I'm not sure who you could sue, either. Like the other poster said, these bedbugs could get stuck in suitcases and "travel" and plus, I've heard that they can live for a VERY long time without food.

So they can actually stay dormant for awhile and then start to bite and spread.

Many of the attorney's that I know will give a free consultation.

I would suggest that she find someone like that (or two for a second opinion) and ask that person all of the questions that she might have. She could probably do this over the phone, too. The lady doesn't have to share that she's a sex worker. The places on her arms, and elsewhere, could hinder her getting employment, period.

The stae has a number of free legal advice options for those who cannot afford it. Try one of these

http://texaslawhelp.org/
http://www.lonestarlegal.org/
http://www.lanwt.org/

I'm with Lizzy Whispers. The person with the injury should confer with a well-qualified attorney or two. A third-person posting in the legal forum of a hooker board isn't the best way to evaluate a claim. But I'll offer my top-of-the-head view of the viability of the claim: In order for a person to incur severe scarring from bedbugs or fleas, they must have been exposed to the agent over time. In other words, one probably wouldn't get severe scarring during one night. So the young lady may have continued to expose herself to the agent despite being aware of the injury. A lawyer would say she "failed to mitigate her damages," which could bar her recovery.

I'm with Lizzy Whispers. The person with the injury should confer with a well-qualified attorney or two. A third-person posting in the legal forum of a hooker board isn't the best way to evaluate a claim. But I'll offer my top-of-the-head view of the viability of the claim: In order for a person to incur severe scarring from bedbugs or fleas, they must have been exposed to the agent over time. In other words, one probably wouldn't get severe scarring during one night. So the young lady may have continued to expose herself to the agent despite being aware of the injury. A lawyer would say she "failed to mitigate her damages," which could bar her recovery. Originally Posted by ShysterJon

Jon, you're probably right, but let me offer my $.02.
I work for a prominent Austin personal injury attorney as a legal assistant, and I spent many years adjusting personal injury claims before that, which means I know enough to be dangerous; please correct me if I get something wrong.
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If I'm interviewing this woman as a potential client, first I want the name or names of the renters who had this room immediately prior to her. An affidavit or deposition from them as to the presence or lack therof of bedbugs would go a long way toward making or breaking this potential case. If she doesn't know, then my attorney probably files suit so he can subpoena the records of prior tenants.
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Also, the lady may not have been educated enough to figure out why there were scars and/or sores appearing on her body. She may have only found out after seeing a physician. If that's the case, then it seems to me that failure to mitigate wouldn't apply, or at least the plaintiff could attempt to refute it. And the horrific effects that such scarring takes on a young, probably attractive woman would be keenly felt by a jury, I daresay. If I'm the adjuster on this case, and there's any chance at all of it going to trial, I'm telling management that I need wide latitude to resolve it, because the verdict value of a case like this far exceeds the settlement value.

Port Laureate, are you REALLY suggesting a person needs a degree to know they've been bitten by a bug -- no, scratch (ha ha) that -- been bitten dozens or hundreds of times? I don't think I'd run to the courthouse to try to convince a jury of that.

It would really help her case if she has proof that she had made several requests to the landlord to have her apartment fumigated as she felt or saw...there were bedbugs, fleas or whatever the case may have been.

If she had been making requests like that and they were ignored each time, then I'd say she has a good case against the landlord.

Someone should find out if her neighbors are experiencing bug issues too.

Thank you everyone! I greatly appreciate all of your insight. The reason I posted here is, in my opinion, obvious based on the level of educated responses and links given.

Yes, it is 'third person'. But as a hobbiest, it is very obvious to me that her time as a masseuse are numbered. Once word gets out as to who she is, NO ONE will see her. And it is true that as someone who lived in Thailand for four years, I would venture a guess that her educational level is not very high. Most people I knew never got past fourth grade! Should she have known? Maybe. But because of education and occupation and immigration status who the f--- would she dare to complain to?

I'll pass your comments on to her. Thanks again.