For nine years John Birke has waged a battle to get second hand smoke declared a nuisance at the Oakwood Apartments in Woodland Hills.
Now a judge has ruled Birke is the nuisance, and has allowed Oakwood to evict him and his family.
"That is the irony," says Birke. "I'm sure it was absolutely intended by Oakwood"
Because Birke's daughter, Melinda and his wife, Caryl suffer from asthma, he's been trying to get Oakwood to ban smoking in common areas, including the pool and the playground.
"We started out for the first four years making requests. Sort of, imploring and pleading," according to Birke.
When that didn't work, Birke, who is an attorney, filed two lawsuits against Oakwood. He believes the eviction is in retaliation for those lawsuits, but the property owners claim he was evicted for harassing smokers.
"I sprayed water on people's cigarettes two years ago, and then one last year where I tried to take pictures of smokers," says Birke. "They said it was a nuisance because 'you interfered with their ability to smoke' for a few minutes. When I heard that, I got very angry."
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So why did Birke chose to wage a nine year fight, instead of simply moving?
"If something is wrong. If there's an injustice, and you can do something about it, don't take the path of least resistance."
