A prominent Santa Barbara farming couple died just hours after paramedics responded to an emergency at a friend’s home, but no one allegedly tested the property for carbon monoxide—the invisible gas blamed in a new wrongful-death lawsuit.
John “Jay” Ruskey, a 53-year-old coffee and exotic-fruit farmer, was vomiting, showing seizure-like symptoms and suffering a loss of bowel control when his wife, Kristen, 49, called 911 shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 8, according to the complaint. The couple had been staying overnight at their friends’ home in Cambria.
The lawsuit alleges that responders and others at the house failed to check the air for carbon monoxide, turn off the water heater allegedly emitting the gas or ventilate the affected rooms.
The couple eventually went back to bed. Several hours later, both were found dead inside the home, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
Their three children—Kasurina, who was 19 at the time, and 16-year-old twins Aiden and Sean—have filed suit against homeowners Ben and Robin Korman and water-heater manufacturer Navien Inc.
The complaint claims a defective exhaust system, combined with a disconnected carbon monoxide detector, allowed the deadly gas to accumulate while the Ruskeys slept at the Kormans’ Cambria property.
Because no working alarm alerted anyone, “neither the responding personnel nor the Korman Defendants nor anyone else at the Subject Property identified carbon monoxide as the cause of Jay’s symptoms,” the lawsuit alleges.
The couple had attended a birthday party with approximately 50 to 60 people on Feb. 7 before going to a guest bedroom at about 2 a.m., according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that continued hot-water use kept the tankless heater running, while carbon monoxide escaped through a faulty venting system and spread from the laundry room into the adjoining bedroom.
The sole smoke and carbon monoxide detector in or near the bedroom had allegedly been disconnected from its wiring before the couple arrived, the complaint says.
“No alarm ever sounded,” the lawsuit states.
Kristen placed the emergency call at approximately 4:34 a.m. as her husband’s condition worsened.
The Santa Barbara Independent reported that Kristen told paramedics Jay had consumed chocolate containing psychedelic mushrooms and was experiencing a “bad trip.” Other guests said they heard him screaming and vomiting.
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Paramedics advised Jay to go to the hospital, but he declined, the outlet reported.
According to the lawsuit, his symptoms could have indicated acute carbon monoxide poisoning, but the possibility was not recognized.
The complaint again emphasizes that, in the absence of a functioning detector, responders, the homeowners and others at the property failed to identify the gas as the source of his illness.
It further alleges that “no one tested the air in the Guest Bedroom or the Laundry Room, shut off the Subject Water Heater, or ventilated the space.”
Between 9:30 and 10 a.m., guests checking on the couple found Kristen on the laundry-room floor near the connecting doorway and Jay unresponsive in bed, according to the suit.
They started CPR and made another 911 call at around 10:20 a.m. Despite efforts to revive them, both were pronounced dead at the home.
The deaths were ruled accidental, the Independent reported. The complaint says autopsies found evidence consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Ruskeys were respected agricultural innovators who operated Good Land Organics and Frinj Coffee. They helped develop California’s coffee industry while cultivating rare fruit varieties in western Goleta.
Their children are seeking product-liability damages from Navien and premises-liability damages from the Kormans.
The lawsuit says the deaths ended a family life centered on camping, mountain biking, paddleboarding and cookouts at the couple’s farm.
“They lost two committed parents and a lifetime of love, support, guidance, and comfort,” the complaint states.
The California Post contacted Navien Inc. and the Kormans for comment.
