text: In 1999, an Austin, Texas, woman was awarded $32 million when she sued her insurer over mold damage in her 22-room mansion.
  In 2001, a jury awarded a couple and their eight-year-old son $2.7 million, plus attorney's fees and costs, in a toxic mold-related personal injury lawsuit against the owners and managers of their apartment in Sacramento, California.
  In 2002, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported that, according to one estimate, US insurers paid over $3 billion in mold-related lawsuits, more than double the previous year's total.
  In 2003, there were over 10,000 mold-related lawsuits pending in US state courts according to the Insurance Information Institute. Most were filed in states with high humidity, but suits were on the rise in other states as well. Notably that year, The Tonight Show co-host Ed McMahon received $7.2 million from insurers and others to settle his lawsuit alleging that toxic mold in his Beverly Hills home made him and his wife ill and killed their dog. Also that year, environmental activist Erin Brockovich received settlements of $430,000 from two parties and an undisclosed amount from a third party to settle her lawsuit alleging toxic mold in her Agoura Hills, California, home.
  By 2004, many mold litigation settlements were for amounts well past $100,000.
  In 2005, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported that toxic mold showed signs of being the "new asbestos" in terms of claims paid.
  In 2006, a Manhattan Beach, California family received a $22.6 million settlement in a toxic mold case. The family had asserted that moldy lumber had caused severe medical problems in their child.  That same year, Hilton Hotels received $25 million in settlement of its lawsuit over mold growth in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower.
  In 2010, a jury awarded $1.2 million in damages in a lawsuit against a landlord for neglecting to repair a mold-infested house in Laguna Beach, California. The lawsuit asserted that a child in the home had severe respiratory problems for several years as a result of the mold.
  In 2011, in North Pocono, Pennsylvania, a jury awarded two homeowners $4.3 million in a toxic mold verdict.
  In 2012, a key appellate court in Manhattan found a consensus in the scientific literature for a causal relationship between the presence of mold and resultant illness.