One of the most attractive and popular actresses of the early 2000s, Brittany Murphy passed away back in 2009. Murphy’s mother now claims that her daughter died from toxic mold that was found in Murphy’s Hollywood home. When Murphy died in 2009, it was released to the public that she died from pneumonia. Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, died a couple of months after Murphy. Murphy’s mother says her son-in-law died from the mold as well.
Brittany Murphy’s mother, Sharon Murphy, claims that those who built the house are the ones to blame for the mold that caused her daughter and son-in-law’s illnesses. A new lawsuit has been filed, with Sharon claiming she was misled by lawyers and tricked into giving up her rights to sue the construction companies for wrongful death.
According to the gossip site TMZ, Murphy’s mother claims that the lawyers told her to accept a settlement from the construction company for the problems found back in January. The lawyers never explained to Sharon Murphy that the settlement also had a stipulation that said she could never sue the construction company for their supposed role in the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law.
Sharon Murphy has since fired her attorneys, hired new ones, and is suing her former attorneys for legal malpractice. Sharon Murphy is also asking for money from the attorneys that she would have won should she had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the construction company.
Murphy passed away at the age of 32 and many felt it was drug related or associated with an eating disorder. Not too long after, it was discovered that she died of natural causes.
In the lawsuit, Murphy claims that the law firm of Steiner & Libo committed legal malpractice. Murphy found extensive water damage and mold damage to the home of her daughter and son-in-law, where the two died suddenly.
The property was owned and operated by The Nina Bow Trust, which has sued the contractor, the subcontractor, and others in 2006 for construction defects. In January of 2009, Sharon hired the firm of Steiner & Libo to represent her and the Nina Bow Trust. The lawsuit of the trust was settled with prejudice, meaning it could not be filed again, for an unknown amount of money.
The new attorneys for Sharon Murphy are saying that her former attorneys should have determined that both Brittany and Monjack’s deaths prom pneumonia were related to complications from the improper construction of the home.
The suit said that the defendants “had a duty to advise and/or inform Plaintiff that she may have had a wrongful death claim.”
Not long after the death of Brittany, Sharon refuted a report from TMZ that toxic mold had been found in the home of Brittany and her husband.