Mesothelioma and Asbestos News
Judge, workers sue over asbestosBy Virginia Hennessey Monterey County Superior Court Judge Albert Maldonado, his former bailiff and another Salinas courthouse employee have filed civil lawsuits against two contractors alleging injuries due to exposure to asbestos and other toxic substances during renovation of the building's north wing. Maldonado, maintenance worker Dorsami Reddy and former sheriff's deputy Rod Cabotage are experiencing symptoms that may be caused by toxic exposure, said their attorney, James Spiering of Monterey. "All three men have similar respiratory problems and it's very troubling in that sense," he said. Cabotage was hospitalized for respiratory ailments and retired from the department in 2005 after filing a workers compensation case against the county. On Monday afternoon, Maldonado declined to discuss his specific symptoms, but said he is concerned. "My lungs have been impaired," he said. "I am concerned for my health and I have hired Jim Spiering... to file a lawsuit on my behalf to protect my future health concerns." The lawsuits ask for medical expenses, as well as general and exemplary damages, against Skanska USA Building, Nova Partners Inc. and their respective project managers, Anthony Jones and Seth Henderson, who are overseeing renovation of the north wing. The state Attorney General's Office is also prosecuting all four of the defendants on criminal charges stemming from their management of construction and asbestos removal from the building last year. Some of those charges were dismissed by the visiting judge handling the case, but it remains set for trial in January. A lawyer and two spokesmen for the defendants declined comment Monday, saying they had not yet been served with the lawsuit. The north wing of the courthouse has been closed on numerous occasions in recent years when elevated asbestos levels were detected. The building was completely closed to business in September when the county's certified asbestos consultant -- who has since quit the job in anger -- determined that loosened asbestos continued to fall in previously abated areas where no work was being conducted. Previously used in construction as a fireproofing and insulating material, asbestos is a known carcinogen. All of the operations that were housed in the building have been moved into new locations in the court compound until the renovation of the north wing is complete. While the job is months behind schedule, the county is supposed to turn the finished building over to the state in June 2007 as the last stage in the consolidation of the state's municipal and superior courts. The criminal charges against Skanska, Nova and their project managers stem from events on Feb. 9, 2005, and March 31, 2005, in which they allegedly allowed workers to saw-cut and jackhammer concrete on the second story of the building, releasing dangerous asbestos into the court's ventilation system. According to testimony at a grand jury hearing, the project managers were warned by the county's former asbestos abatement company that their plans to cut through the second-story flooring would release asbestos unless it was first abated. Henderson and Jones ignored the warnings, according to testimony, because they were under pressure to meet construction deadlines. Judge Barry Hammer dismissed most of the charges stemming from the March 31 incident on a motion by defense attorneys in August, but each of the defendants continues to face four felony counts and two misdemeanors. Maldonado and his attorney, however, said their concerns go beyond asbestos and the jackhammering. Spiering said the criminal charges by the Attorney General's Office also allege mishandling of other hazardous materials that could trigger an allergic or toxic reaction. He said all of the plaintiffs have been told by their doctors that their ailments could be the result of exposure to asbestos, molds or other toxic materials at the courthouse. "It's extraodinary, based on my understanding (of the criminal charges), there was knowledge or at least conscious disregard on the part of Nova and Skanska in allowing all those people to stay and work, eight hours a day, five days a week, while right over their heads they were tearing the building apart and all the chemicals and asbestos was being released for a long period of time." Don Diel, the former asbestos consultant, has said there were "horrendous" levels of asbestos in Maldonado's chambers after the jackhammering, but the judge said his concerns predate that incident. "It's related to the long, ongoing environment where I worked on the first floor (of the north wing) for close to two years," Maldonado said. "There was welding on the second floor, welding in the new county administrative building and activity in the basement." Maldonado moved to a new office in the east wing of the courthouse months before the north wing's closure after filing written and verbal demands that they "move me the hell out of the first floor." The judge said he was concerned for jurors who moved through the basement and first floors during jury duty. He released several pregnant women from jury duty. Maldonado also said his bailiff, Cabotage, collapsed during one trial and was eventually hospitalized at Stanford Medical Center. Reddy, one of the county's lead maintence workers at the courthouse, regularly crawled through the ducts of the ventilation system, the judge said. Noting that the effects of asbestos exposure may not be known for 10 to 20 years, Spiering said the lawsuits aim to protect the ongoing medical needs of his clients. He cautioned others who fear that they may have been sickened by exposure to seek medical attention first, not a lawyer. "It's much more important that they seek medical care and find out if there is a relationship," he said. herald.com |
