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A trial court awarded him nearly $95,904 in damages after finding his landlords negligent and in violation of state landlord-tenant law. However, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, partly revised that outcome in an unpublished opinion issued on October 26, 2026, which does not constitute binding precedent. The court upheld $75,000 for physical pain and suffering and emotional distress but reversed the additional treble damages and ordered further proceedings on attorney fees, according to the ruling available on Justia . It awarded Christiansen $25,000 for pain and suffering caused by physical illness and $50,000 for emotional distress, bringing the negligence damages to $75,000. The court separately calculated his actual damages under the landlord-tenant law at $6,967.99. It trebled that amount, producing an additional award of $20,903.97. Together, the two awards totalled $95,903.97, or approximately $95,904. Christiansen initially sought nearly $98,465 in attorney fees but reduced his request to $76,710 after conceding certain objections raised by the defendants.
In Redmond, Washington, tenant Eric Christiansen said fumes from an adjoining automobile-painting workshop made him ill and left his apartment uninhabitable. Paint fumes drifting into a rented home can turn an ordinary tenancy into a question of health, safety and legal responsibility. Christiansen sued Searles and the associated company, alleging negligence based on a breach of the implied warranty of habitability and violations of Washington’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. Following a bench trial, the court found the defendants negligent and in violation of the legislation. The court also awarded reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs, to be determined separately. Searles and the company challenged the damages award, arguing that Christiansen should not have received compensation for emotional distress without objective medical evidence of his symptoms. The appeals court rejected that argument. It explained that Washington law permits recovery for emotional distress accompanying a physical injury. The requirement for objective symptomatology, which generally applies to certain emotional distress claims without physical injury, did not apply in the same way here.
It concluded that the established physical illness meant Christiansen did not have to demonstrate objective symptomatology to recover the $50,000 emotional distress award. The $25,000 for physical pain and suffering also remained intact. Because those findings were not challenged on appeal, the appellate court accepted them.
The trial court had found that Christiansen experienced illness, including an upset stomach, after exposure to the fumes. Its findings also recorded his physical pain and emotional distress, supported by his credible testimony.