Boston Woman Loses Lawsuit over Secondhand Smoke

A jury has ruled against a Massachusetts woman who claimed in a lawsuit against her real estate broker that she was forced to move out of her condominium because of secondhand cigarette smoke coming from a neighbor.

Alyssa Burrage alleged that her broker repeatedly assured her that the prior owner of the Boston condo she was buying in 2006 was a smoker and the smell would go away.

Burrage, who has asthma, said she later discovered the smoke was coming from a neighbor.

A jury on Tuesday deliberated less than an hour before siding with the broker.

A lawyer for the broker tells The Boston Globe that smoking never came up in conversations.

Burrage said in a statement she was disappointed in the verdict but proud to have drawn attention to the issue.