Giles County Criminal Justice Facility Sickened by Mold; Inmate dies

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Staffers say jail mold makes them ill

By LEON ALLIGOODStaff Writer

County officials, contractors subject of suits for employees, dead inmate

Employees at the Giles County Criminal Justice Facility claim that they are sick of work, literally.

Since the building was first occupied in 1997, moisture has seeped through the walls, allegedly creating a breeding ground for a dangerous form of mold.

In the past year, five lawsuits — two in state court and three in federal court — have been filed listing the county, the local sheriff and all contractors and subcontractors on the building as defendants.

The cases are wending their way slowly through the judicial system.

Plaintiffs in the cases concerning the 6-year-old jail are varied.

One suit includes 24 jail employees, who cite unsafe working conditions because of the alleged mold.

In another case, a former employee who has been hospitalized twice for respiratory ailments contends that she was fired from her job at the jail in May for publicly speaking about the issue.

Meanwhile, not only the jailers are involved. Thelma , the mother of a dead inmate, has filed suit, too. The prisoner, Marsh Jr., died in March from ''multi-system organ failure'' allegedly caused by exposure to mold.

There is a lot of finger-pointing going on as the cases move closer to a trial date, with the first most likely to be scheduled in 2004.

In addition to Giles County, the sheriff's department, Sheriff Eddie Bass and Chief Deputy Tommy Porterfield, other defendants include the building's architect, its engineers, the contractor and five subcontractors.

''It's taking a while for them to get through the system, but they are making their way,'' said Nashville attorney R. Bone, one of numerous attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the cases against the county.

The five lawsuits stem from health problems experienced by jail employees since the building was occupied.

All of the lawsuits blame the situation on faulty design, construction and maintenance, which allowed moisture to enter the building.

Consequently, ''the facility became infested with molds and fungi that created a hazardous working environment,'' according to the federal suit filed by 24 jail employees April 24.

All of the cases allege that the county has engaged in a ''civil conspiracy to conceal the true condition of the facility'' and ''allowed and/or required the plaintiffs to continue working in the facility, even though'' county officials ''had knowledge of its true hazardous condition.''

In the case of the late prisoner, contends that her son's constitutional rights were violated because he was forced to reside in the jail and could not avoid contact with the mold.

''Even the county thinks it's a sick building because it filed a suit against the contractors,'' said W. Briley, another Nashville attorney involved in the litigation.

That 2001 lawsuit filed by Giles County is still pending in Giles County Circuit Court.

In an answer to the plaintiff's allegations, the county contends that there was no conspiracy against the jail employees. The county also points to its suit against the architect, contractor and subcontractors as proof of their intent, saying the resulting public record was neither ''secret or conspiratorial.''

Recently, the county received news that appears to bolster its claim that employees were not in jeopardy while they worked.

A June 30 report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health reported that the ''employee's health problems were not due to mold exposure, or other exposures within the workplace.''

Dr. Elena H. Page of the institute wrote the report. She based her report on telephone interviews with four affected employees, employee medical records and an indoor environmental quality evaluation performed in February.

''This is coming from a medical doctor. She made her determination that their problems were not coming from the workplace. We were pleased with that ruling, if that's what you call it,'' Bass said.

Underwood, county attorney, said the ''report speaks for itself'' and would be included as part of the county's defense against the jail employee's allegations.

But Bone and Briley, two of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said they want to do testing of their own.

''We want our own experts to do some testing. So far we have not had that opportunity,'' Briley said.