Pasadena Star-News - News -
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Published on: 8/16/2003
Last Visited: 8/16/2003
Writer Michelle Johnson, 40, of Altadena filed a lawsuit July 25 in Pasadena Superior Court, accusing Zorthian of violating health and safety codes and renting her a dwelling contaminated with toxic mold.
Johnson said tests have shown the mold Stachybotrys in the house and in her blood system.She alleges that the mold has caused her debilitating illnesses including photo toxicity -- extreme sensitivity to heat and light.
"I can't go out in the heat at all," Johnson said.
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Johnson lived on the Zorthian ranch -- dubbed "The Center for Research and Development with an Emphasis on Aesthetics" -- on two occasions for a total of five years, she said.Most recently, she and her husband paid $620 a month to live in the Stone House, one of Zorthian's rustic creations made with discarded telephone poles and railroad ties.
The house is built into the hillside beneath the stage that's the center of activity during Zorthian's annual fetes -- where he morphs with the mythological god of wine to become his alter-ego, "Zor-Bacchus."
Johnson said she lived in the Stone House for more than two years, until June 2002.Her husband also lived there until the couple separated in March 2002, she said.
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Johnson had pre-existing health problems before she came to the ranch, and left the ranch during her first stay because of illness, Dabney Zorthian said.
But then Johnson begged to come back to the ranch, making numerous phone calls over two months, Dabney Zorthian said.The Zorthians refused at first, because Johnson complained of health problems when living in another house on the ranch, Dabney Zorthian said.Before Johnson moved into the Stone House, the Zorthians warned her that the house had the wetness problems associated with all "earth houses," Dabney Zorthian said.
"I warn everybody about the water that comes through the back wall when it rains," Dabney Zorthian said.Johnson lived in the Stone House for almost two years with no complaints until her husband left, Dabney Zorthian said.Then Johnson listed a litany of complaints, Dabney Zorthian said.
Johnson said her complaints included water leaking into the house when it rained and when the stage area above her ceiling was cleaned.There was mold in the bathtub and on the walls, and the house was infested with cockroaches, Johnson said.Although her rental agreement called for him to maintain the house, Zorthian did little to fix the problems, she said.
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