Jury Backs Teacher Who Says Room Made Her Ill

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Jury Backs Teacher Who Says Room Made Her Ill

Rockville, MD*

By de Vise

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, July 22, 2007; Page C11

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101242.html

A Montgomery County jury has found in favor of a teacher who said

she was driven from her job by mold in a portable classroom at a

Burtonsville school.

Jurors in state Circuit Court found Thursday that Shirley

Washington, who taught English at Banneker Middle School, contracted

an occupational disease and is entitled to worker's compensation

from the state, according to her attorney, Bruce M. Bender of

Rockville.

Washington is one of a number of teachers and students in the county

who have reported falling ill from exposure to mold and other toxins

inside portable classrooms. In the largest such case, school

officials replaced eight portable classrooms last year behind Bells

Mill Elementary School in Potomac after 41 students and several

teachers reported ailments. The entire school is scheduled for

replacement by 2009, according to Principal Jerri Oglesby.

But although all the teachers who got sick at Bells Mill returned to

work in clean classrooms, Washington has not taught again.

Assigned to portable classroom P-6 at Banneker in fall 2004, the 20-

year veteran developed fatigue, coughing, wheezing, headaches and

other problems, all of which " we believe are a result of exposure to

mold, " Bender said. She left the school system in January 2005 " and

has not been able to work since, " he said.

School officials said Washington failed to prove that mold caused

her illness and stressed that the jury verdict did not specify the

nature or cause of her malady.

" We will be asking the judge to set aside the verdict in this case,

because there was no evidence presented during the trial that the

mold had anything to do with the illnesses for which she is seeking

compensation, " said , spokesman for the school system.

Washington went to work at Banneker in fall 2003 and was placed in P-

6 the next year. She filed a series of complaints about air quality

starting in mid-December, saying her symptoms had appeared when the

air conditioner in the classroom was turned off in fall.

In one complaint, she wrote of " lack of air circulation; wet ceiling

tiles; dusty vents " and " old stains " on the carpet, and she reported

symptoms of " dry coughs, shortness of breath, running nose, running

eyes. " In a subsequent memo, she said she had missed two weeks of

school with an upper respiratory infection, adding that " the

physician believes my problem may well be related to/activated by

allergies to particles inside my room. "

Washington said she believes the portable classroom in which she

taught has been moved and said she has seen it outside another

school, Rosemary Hills Elementary in Silver Spring. School officials

would not confirm or refute that claim Friday.

Portable classrooms are thought to be especially prone to problems

in air quality because of poor ventilation, lower construction

standards and vulnerability to the elements and to damage during

relocation from school to school.

The Montgomery school system has several hundred portable classrooms

and is considered a national leader in addressing air quality

problems. The system employs two teams to investigate such problems;

most school systems have none.

An air quality employee visited Washington's classroom and reported

stained ceiling tiles and mold growth caused by poor drainage and a

roof leak. He found elevated carbon dioxide readings inside the

classroom. A subsequent report noted a defect in a heat pump that

had prevented fresh air from being drawn into the room.

Washington said she developed so many physical and neurological

problems that she was unable to return to work. She filed a claim

with the land Workers' Compensation Commission, which ruled last

year that Washington did not have an occupational disease.

This week's jury verdict, which followed a two-day trial, reversed

that ruling. Washington's case will now be remanded to the state

commission, but only after the school system exhausts its appeals,

Bender said. The appeals could take " a couple of years, " he said.

Washington " is very pleased " with the verdict, Bender said, " but she

knows she has a long road ahead. "