Lee teachers wait for word on poor air quality lawsuit

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http://www.bonitanews.com/03/07/bonita/d954857a.htm

Lee teachers wait for word on poor air quality lawsuit

Saturday, July 19, 2003 By DAVE BREITENSTEIN, debreitenstein@...

A group of Lee County teachers that filed a class action lawsuit against the school district will have to wait 10 more days before finding out if they will have a chance to prove their health problems are related to poor indoor air quality at local schools. Lee County Circuit Judge McIver heard school district attorney ' motion to dismiss the case on Friday, but wanted more time to review arguments from both sides. The school district is arguing that plaintiffs failed to provide advance notice of the lawsuit and that state court is not the proper venue for deciding any remuneration. "If they have a claim for damages, they should take it up with workers' compensation," said. In November, San Park Elementary teachers Gail Gerberich, Penn and Theresa filed a lawsuit against the Lee County School District alleging that their school was an unhealthy work environment because of ongoing mold problems and high carbon dioxide levels. The suit was expanded later to include nine employees and is now a class action claim, meaning all employees with symptoms possibly related to poor air quality would be covered by the decision. Claims against the school district have been revised since November, providing more specific allegations about potential safety hazards, a list of schools with poor air quality and details about the plaintiffs themselves, according to the teachers' attorney Geraghty. He said school officials knew mold, asbestos, carbon dioxide and other toxins were prevalent in the schools, but did little to correct the problem. "Apparently, the School Board is taking the position that they don't have to do anything to warn parents and students about the condition of their schools," Geraghty said. The lawsuit does not contain specific compensation amounts, lists of illnesses or exact toxins at particular schools, said. However, teachers' attorney Mark Menser said the defense's request for specific ailments and compensation amounts is not valid because individuals might not experience the full effects of poor indoor air quality, like exposure to asbestos, until many years down the road. "It's a bureaucratic game to make them predict their medical claims 30 years from now," Menser said. Although attorneys are waiting for McIver's decision on dismissing or continuing the case, lawyers did resolve one sticking point prior to Friday's hearing. Geraghty had requested copies of numerous district e-mails relating to the lawsuit, but estimated that the public records request would take nearly 340,000 man hours to research at a cost of $8.5 million. said Friday that the teachers' attorneys had agreed to limit their search request to specific items.