Altadena Homeowners Sue Farmers Insurance, Testing Firm Over Eaton Fire Smoke Claims
Michelle Meyers, Partner at Singleton Schreiber LLP, was featured in an article titled “Altadena Homeowners Sue Farmers Insurance, Testing Firm Over Eaton Fire Smoke Claims,” published by Altadena Now on March 5, 2026.
The article discusses a class-action lawsuit filed for Altadena property owners Anita Ghazarian and Simon Penny against Fire Insurance Exchange, a Farmers Insurance entity, and Hygiene Technologies International. The suit alleges that the testing firm performed inadequate smoke-damage assessments after the Eaton Fire and issued reports understating contamination levels.
The complaint states that insurers relied on these reports to deny or limit remediation payments to homeowners whose properties were exposed to toxic smoke after the wildfire.
The case underscores ongoing disputes affecting thousands of homeowners whose properties survived the fire but may still contain hazardous smoke residue.
“Farmers Insurance and HygieneTech’s failure to uphold their obligations under the policy is not just a matter of negligence; it’s a case of deliberate bad faith practices that have caused real harm to our clients,” Meyers said in a Feb. 23, 2026, press release announcing the lawsuit.
The case, Ghazarian v. Fire Insurance Exchange, is currently pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
