The action alleges that, even though the housing in which the children lived was free of lead, the surrounding areas were not. The lead allegedly came from paint that the housing had been covered with in years past. The Authority had remediated the buildings, but allegedly failed to adequately remove soil adjacent to the buildings into which the lead had leached through the years. The children were allegedly exposed to the lead when they played outside their homes.

In a private action raising a similar claim, in July 2003 a jury ruled against the Authority in awarding $3.5 million to a 12-year-old boy whose mental retardation was blamed on the same lead-tainted soil where he played. In that action, jurors deliberated about 11 hours over two days. One of the apartment buildings where the boy's family lived was an older, wooden three-story structure where lead paint was flaking onto the ground. The lawsuit contended that the boy was contaminated by lead dust in the soil where he played, although the family lived in a lead-free building.

Lead poisoning is said to cause permanent damage to the brain and nervous system and is particularly hazardous to children up to age seven, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which banned the use of lead paint in 1978.