Chamber director fired, Wagner claims illness caused by mold led to dismissal

[Guest guest]

Wonder if the US Chamber of Commerce got wind of Ms. Wagner's going against

the national Chamber's position on mold and illness? What an embarrassment

that would be! All that money spent by the Manhattan Institute to " easy

speak " the ACOEM's position through the US Chamber and a fellow member has the

audacity to buck heads.

Mulvey son

Chamber director fired, Wagner claims illness caused by mold led to dismissal

By Stinson, Madison Record

(Updated: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:21 PM CDT)The former director of the

Madison Chamber of Commerce has filed suit against the city and the members of

the chamber’s board of directors claiming she was dismissed unfairly.

Sally Wagner was dismissed June 9 as director of the chamber. Chamber

officials said her dismissal was due to poor job performance.

“We recognize her years of service, but we just feel we need to move in a

different direction at this time,†Brett Posey, president of the Madison

Chamber Commerce, said.

(http://adsys.townnews.com/c88481775/creative/madisoncountyrecord.com/+instory/1\

27093-1209933736.gif?r=http://www.rivercityautoonline.com) Wagner has been

involved with the chamber since 1993. Her husband, Bob Wagner, is a member

of the Madison City Council.

On June 13, attorney F. Aldridge filed a lawsuit on behalf of Wagner,

her daughter Brittany Wagner, Robin Henegar and Payne, claiming that

they have been permanently damaged by their exposure to black mold found in

the office complex located in downtown Madison at 204 Main Street. The chamber

had occupied the city-owned office for more than a year before closing it

and relocating. The city leased the building to the chamber starting in

October 2001.

Aldridge said the conditions brought on by exposure to the mold led to the

termination of Wagner’s employment, because he claims she has never received

any criticism on her job performance before her termination.

“She has received nothing but exemplary reviews every time,†Aldridge

said. “She had never been cited for anything nor was there any indication at

anytime that there was ever any problem with her job performance.â€

Several members of the chamber, however, said they had concerns over Wagner’

s performance.

Terry Hale of Hale Fire Glass and Jacklyn Zoller of Jacklyn’s Keepsakes,

both located in downtown Madison, said when they first opened about two years

ago someone from Wagner’s office was there every day asking them to join the

chamber, but as soon as they joined the chamber they never heard from them

again.

Also, they said Wagner planned a 150 year celebration for downtown that

would be tied into the chamber’s annual business expo. The store owners

bought

decorations and costumes and food for the event but two days before it was to

take place, they found out the celebration had been canceled and moved to a

different location.

“I think we [the downtown merchants] found out on Wednesday, and the event

was suppose to be on Saturday, that not only was it postponed but the event

had been moved to Bob High School,†Hale said. “The thing that upset

me

was the chamber was just three doors down from me and no one had called to

let us know that this thing had been moved.â€

Aldridge claims the decision to move the event from downtown to Bob

High School was made by the board and not Wagner herself.

“The function was moved to Bob High from the downtown area, much to

the understandable disappointment of the prepared downtown merchants (many who

had made costumes), by vote of the chamber board. Unfortunately, Sallie

wound up shouldering the blame for this decision, although she had nothing to

do

with it,†Aldridge said via email.

According to a report by Dr. L. Lipsey, a toxicologist hired by

Aldridge to re- examine the building after the city of Madison had its own

inspection and clean up of the property, seven out of nine swab or bulk samples

taken at the former chamber office contained an unsafe level of mold and

bacteria.

In his report, Lipsey said mold was found in Wagner’s office wall and floor

vent.

The city of Madison hired EnviroSafe, LLC, to conduct tests and rid the

building of mold. The Madison Record requested copies of these records last

week

but were told this week they were unavailable because they were involved in a

lawsuit.

In her suit, Wagner claims she and the other workers at the chamber

suffered “respiratory problems, chest pain and congestion, memory loss,

depression,

chronic fatigue, sleeping disorders, oral cavity malfunctions and filming,

mood swings, eye irritation as well as other physical and mental abnormalities.

The suit seeks unnamed compensation for those damages.

Posey said the Chamber of Commerce is planning to have an interim director

in place until a permanent one can be found. The chamber is still open for

business in its new location at190 Lime Quarry Road, Suite 105.

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