Heeeerrrre's Stachy...
Abstracted from April 10, 2002 CNN.com

Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's sidekick, says he is involved in a drama that has left him seething. McMahon is suing his home insurance company for $20 million, claiming a simple repair on a broken pipe was botched, allowing the toxic Stachybotrus chartarum to spread through his house, making his family sick and killing his dog. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, says McMahon, his wife Pamela and household staff members have been ill as a result of exposure to the mold and that the family dog died due to a mold-induced infection. "What started out as a simple plumbing leak ended up a horrific nightmare only Steven King could write about," McMahon's lawyer Allan Browne told Reuters. "It's just been a nightmare."

The suit names Scottsdale, AZ-based American Equity Insurance Co., a unit of Citigroup Inc., as a plaintiff as well as several contractors who had been hired to clean up the mold. A spokeswoman for American Equity declined to comment on the suit. McMahon made a claim under his policy with American Equity, which arranged to clean up the damage caused by the flooding, but the mold spread through the house with a high concentration in the main bedroom. The suit charges that the contractors painted over visible mold and failed to provide the family with environmental reports related to the levels of mold infestation despite repeated requests for documentation. In addition, another contractor hired by the insurer to store the McMahons' furniture, artwork and TV memorabilia has not to date returned the items.