UPDATED, March 9, 11:55 a.m.
Airbnb is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in Palm Beach County, after a toddler died from exposure to fentanyl in a Wellington rental property.
Lydie and Boris Lavenir and their five children were visiting Wellington from Guadeloupe, when they checked into an Airbnb owned by Ronald Cortamilia and managed by Yulia Timpy on Aug. 6, 2021, according to the suit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The day after their arrival, Lydie Lavenir went to check on the couple’s 19-month-old toddler, Enora, who was napping with her older sister. Lydie Lavenir found Enora unresponsive and foaming at the mouth, and screamed for her husband. The family rushed her to West Palms Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The medical examiner found lethal levels of fentanyl in her bloodstream, court documents say.
The swift nature of her death indicates the toddler came into contact with the deadly drug in her family’s Airbnb, the suit states.
The Lavenirs’ suit alleges Airbnb is aware of the heightened risk of drug exposure in its properties. The suit also alleges the company neglected to properly uphold cleaning and safety standards, and deliberately did not inform the couple of the potential threat.
In the days prior to the Lavenirs’ visit to Wellington, another guest stayed at the same rental: Aaron Kornhauser. The suit alleges that Kornhauser and his guests, who rented the home from July 30 to Aug. 1 2021, brought drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, into the home during their stay. The drugs were consumed in the bedrooms and the kitchen, according to the complaint.
The Lavenirs named Airbnb, Cortamilia, Timpy, and Kornhauser as defendants in their daughter’s wrongful death suit, which was filed in December.
The suit does not name the address of the rental home. Property records show Cortamilia owns two properties in Wellington, one he purchased for $360,000 in January 2021 at 1618 The Twelfth Fairway, and another he bought for $450,000 in May of that same year at 1040 Lake Breeze Drive.
The litigation comes as Airbnb grapples with how to handle parties thrown at its rental properties. In June of last year, the short-term rental company codified a party ban on its platform, following a temporary party ban put in place in August 2020. In its June announcement, the company stated that the temporary ban “has proved effective,” citing a 44 percent year-over-year drop in party reports.
Despite the policies, renters have continued to throw parties, and more than a few have turned deadly, including a party at an Airbnb in Sunnyvale, California that left an 18-year-old dead in August 2021.
Airbnb is fighting to operate in some areas of the country, but South Florida has largely embraced short-term rentals. In July, Related Group, BH Group and ROVR Development received a $76 million loan for an Airbnb-branded condo project in downtown Miami called District 225.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the Lavenirs’ country of origin.
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