History Made: 
Terminix Tells the Truth 

AP 28jun02

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- A jury awarded $5.3 million to an elderly woman bitten hundreds of times by fire ants that swarmed in her room at an assisted living facility.

The verdict went against the Greystone Retirement Community, where the woman lived, and Terminix International, hired to control pests in the facility.

Jurors ruled Greystone and Terminix should together pay compensation of $1.85 million and punitive damages of $1.75 million each.

A Terminix spokesman said the company would appeal Thursday's verdict.

Lucille Devers, 79, survived the 1999 incident and now lives in another elderly care home. The lawsuit was filed by Devers' daughter, Jeanne Hupfer.

Attorneys for Greystone said controlling pests was outside the expertise of facility managers. Terminix lawyers told jurors there was no way the company could exterminate all the ants or foreseen any danger of an infestation.

mindfully.org note: So why hire them if they can't do what they claim to do?
There is no way Terminix can eliminate ants from a building with pesticides unless they burn the building to the ground. 
But then they wouldn't have needed pesticides in the first place. If you think this is an exaggeration, ask yourself why they must keep coming back week after week,  month after month, and year after year.

If they got rid of the ants, then why must they keep coming back?

Jury awards $5.3M in fire ant case

DAVID HOLDEN / Huntsville Times 28jun02

Says both defendants guilty of negligence after woman bitten

A jury's award of $5.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages on Thursday against a Huntsville assisted-living facility and a national pest control company is the largest in recent memory in Madison County, say local court officials.

After an eight-day trial, the jury deliberated eight hours before returning the verdict against Greystone Retirement Community and Terminix International.

The lawsuit was filed by Jeanne Hupfer of Huntsville after her 79-year-old mother, Lucille Devers, was attacked by thousands of fire ants at least twice in her room at Greystone in August 1999.

Former Greystone workers testified they told their managers they had seen fire ants inside the building before Devers was attacked. The managers gave them spray cans of commercially available pesticide.

Devers, who suffered dementia, was bitten hundreds of times by the venomous ants. She survived and now lives in another Huntsville-area assisted living facility.

The lawsuit sought damages on allegations of negligence and carelessness by Greystone and Terminix.

Hupfer's lawyers, S.A. ''Bud'' Watson, Ralph Hornsby Jr. and Tom McGrath, claimed Greystone administrators knew fire ants were in the building at 4200 Chris Drive but did nothing to protect Devers. Greystone violated state rules that nursing homes and hospitals be kept free of insects and other pests, the lawyers said.

Expert witnesses testified that fire ants are voracious foragers that will consume whatever food they can carry. The experts also testified that Terminix, hired by Greystone to control pests, did not spend enough time inspecting or treating the buildings at Greystone. Terminix also failed to use proper amounts of chemicals to ward off an infestation, an expert said after reviewing the company's records.

Jury finds both defendants guilty in fire ant attack, awards $5.3M in damages Case Continued from page B1 Ben Rice, Greystone's lawyer, told the jury that his client is in the business of running an assisted-living facility. Controlling pests is outside the expertise of the managers at Greystone, he said.

The lawyers for Terminix, John Heflin of Memphis and John Key of Huntsville, told the jury there was no way their client could exterminate all the ants. Terminix could not have foreseen that there was any danger of an infestation, they said.

The jury said Greystone and Terminix should together pay compensatory damages of $1,850,000, and that Greystone and Terminix should each pay $1,750,000 in punitive damages.

The jurors discussed the allegations and voted on several different verdicts before reaching a final decision, said Oliver N. Skoglund, the jury foreman. But the jurors agreed on one thing: ''We believed that both the defendants were guilty,'' he said.

The jurors also took into consideration Devers' diminished mental capacity, Skoglund said.

Circuit Judge Jim Smith is expected to schedule a hearing to determine whether the punitive damages are in proportion with compensatory damages.