A military family in South Carolina is suing Fort Jackson’s privatized housing provider after they say sewage contaminated their home, allegedly causing a life-altering bacterial infection in their 4-year-old son.
Travis Wilson, a chaplain in the Army, and his wife, Jaclyn Wilson, filed a complaint Nov. 18 against Fort Jackson Housing LLC and Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management LLC in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina for “negligent maintenance of upkeep of military housing,” including “sewage overflow and hazardous pollution,” according to the complaint.
The couple and their six children moved into Fort Jackson housing in South Carolina on Dec. 22, 2022. At move-in, the couple claims they were given a 7-year maintenance history that didn’t accurately represent the house’s conditions, specifically that the report failed to mention previous tenants’ complaints about sewage backflow, according to the complaint.
Shortly after the family moved in, sewage in the upstairs bathroom overflowed, according to the complaint.
Jaclyn Wilson said she reported the problem to maintenance, but after workers arrived, the complaint alleges, they closed the bathroom door and told her that they would return shortly, never materializing.
The sewage began leaking through the ceiling and into the kitchen below, with a putrid smell wafting through the home, the complaint states.
When the workers returned at a later unspecified date, they told the family the backflow problem had been fixed, according to the complaint.
However, several months later, in March 2023, the complaint states, there was a relapse in sewage leakage, with overflow again dripping through the ceiling into the kitchen below.
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The maintenance workers returned, this time removing the toilet only to leave it in the tub for several weeks, the complaint states. During this time, the couple claims workers left a sewer pipe exposed.
Eventually, the family relocated to a hotel. The family returned at a later date to find the toilet still in the tub and the sewer pipe still exposed.
At the time of the alleged sewage leaks, the couple’s 4-year-old son often played on the house’s floors. In March, around the time of the second leak, the couple noticed he had become lethargic, according to the complaint. When his face began drooping, the couple became alarmed and took him to the emergency room, where they were informed that he was fighting a bacterial infection affecting his brain.
Doctors were so worried about the child’s health that they transferred him to a hospital nearly 400 miles away in Birmingham, Alabama, according to the complaint.
“There is something showing in the scan, and you need to leave for Birmingham now,” doctors informed the Wilson family, according to the complaint.
After eight neurologists evaluated the child, they determined the boy was experiencing acute disseminated encephalitis, a rare inflammatory disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord. The doctors also informed the family that the disease is typically caused by a bacterial infection, the complaint states.
Common symptoms include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and sometimes seizures. The disease can also affect motor skills and negatively affect speech and vision.
The couple claims in their complaint that the bacterial infection was caused by the sewage overflow from their military housing.
They are seeking monetary damages in an amount to be proven at trial, as well as punitive damages, according to the complaint. The couple is also suing the housing organizations for the emotional distress they experienced as a result of their child’s sickness.
At the time of the complaint’s filing, the child is still dealing with symptoms of the disease.
Balfour Beatty Communities, one of the largest privatized military housing companies in the United States, manages Fort Jackson Housing.
“The health and well-being of our residents is our top priority,” a spokesperson for Balfour Beatty Communities said in an emailed statement. “As this matter is the subject of litigation, we will not comment beyond saying that we think the claims are entirely without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously.”
Fort Jackson Housing declined to comment.
The Wilson family’s complaint isn’t the first time Balfour Beatty Communities has come under fire for subpar military housing conditions. In December 2021, the housing contractor was ordered to pay over $65 million in fines and restitution for defrauding the U.S. military.
“Instead of promptly repairing housing for U.S. service members as required, BBC lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in a Justice Department release at the time.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
