State employees sue over mold problems at worksite

Kim Smith

Thursday, April 25, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

A second lawsuit has been filed against the state alleging officials moved too slowly to address mold problems in state-owned buildings on Charleston Boulevard.

According to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in District Court, 13 current and former employees of the Division of Child and Family Services and the Department of Human Resources are suffering from breathing problems, loss of hair, nausea, headaches, stiff joints and fever as a result of being exposed to mold at work.

State officials "failed and/or refused to take either timely or adequate corrective action regarding the hazardous conditions in the building," the lawsuit states.

The employees claim the state's Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement division first informed them of the mold in September 1995, but did not begin evacuating the affected buildings until October 2000.

Tom Sargent, a public information officer with the attorney general's office, declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying he had yet to see it.

Attempts to reach the plaintiffs' attorneys were unsuccessful.

The employees further allege that when Building 9 at 6171 W. Charleston Blvd. was "hep o vac'd" in November 2000, it was done improperly, allowing the mold to spread.

Filed with the lawsuit as exhibits are a number of memos from state officials acknowledging the frustration felt by state employees about the "deliberate pace" of the investigation and the remediation of the buildings.

In one such memo, a state official discusses problems with moving employees from one building to another.

"WE HAVE NO MONEY -- And that is in capital letters because we have to find the tens of thousands of dollars to make this move possible," Karen Harbour wrote.

The employees, many of whom say they were denied workers' compensation, are suing on the grounds of negligence and emotional distress.