Oakhaven Elementary School - Defective Boiler Sickens Teacher

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(A lesson in how bad things happen to good people)

October 20, 1997

Barbara H. Peppel vs. Board of Education of Memphis City Schools; Gipson

Mechanical Contractors Inc. a/k/a Gibson Mechanical; Rodney Hubbard,

individually and d/b/a Medfac Engineering; & Inc.; Lochinvar

Corp.; and Webb Building Corp. An Oakhaven Elementary School teacher has

filed a complaint in Circuit Court regarding a heating and air conditioning

system installed at the school during the summer and early fall of 1995. The

systems consisted of new boilers, ductwork, vents, pipes, blowers and other

related items. In October 1995, the new boilers were turned on although the

plaintiff alleges the boiler system was never inspected or certified by

either the city of Memphis Department of Code Enforcement or Tennessee's

Department of Labor, Boiler and Elevator Inspection Division. According to

the suit, on Nov. 8, 1995, numerous students and staff members fell ill with

complaints of respiratory distress, and the school was evacuated. A number

of students and several faculty members were taken to area hospitals for

evaluation and treatment but the cause of their distress was not determined,

according to the suit. On Feb. 29, 1996, complaints from neighborhood

residents were made to Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division of a gaseous

odor emitting from Oakhaven Elementary School, and MLGW determined that the

boiler exhaust pipes on the roof of the school were emitting unsafe levels

of carbon monoxide, according to the suit. The plaintiff alleges the school

was closed March 1,1996, and an investigation of the boiler system was

conducted. According to the suit, the investigation determined there was a

gas leak, the boilers and HVAC systems were defective and maintenance of the

boiler was defective. The plaintiff alleges that the negligence of the

defendants led to her being exposed to toxic gases and microbiological

contaminants from August 1995 to June 1996. The plaintiff alleges she began

to suffer severe headaches, fatigue, and a tightness and heaviness in the

chest and upper back, all of which began in March 1996. She alleges that she

has been diagnosed with asthma, a condition of which she has no prior

history. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages of $300,000. The

attorneys for the plaintiff are R. Peppel and Barbara D. MacIntosh.