Broward courthouse staff: Building mold made us sick

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BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE

Broward courthouse staff: Building mold made us sick

Is mold making workers at Broward County's main courthouse ill? Several

think so, and have filed lawsuits.

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* _Read the lawsuit _

(http://media.miamiherald.com/smedia/2009/03/31/18/mold.source.prod_affiliate.56\

..pdf)

BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ

_dmoskovitz@..._ (mailto:dmoskovitz@...)

Five employees at Broward County's main courthouse have filed lawsuits saying

mold at the building made them sick.

The lawsuits are the latest chapter in the downtown Fort Lauderdale

courthouse's ongoing structural woes, which have resulted in several floods and

power

outages that forced its closure for days at a time.

On Friday, a county committee looking into what can be done about the

building will meet at 1 p.m. at the courthouse.

The five lawsuits were filed Monday, naming Broward County and three

companies that worked on various stages of repairing and cleaning up the

courthouse:

D. son Construction, C & B Services and Affordable Restoration.

On Tuesday, the plaintiffs' attorney, Walter ''Skip'' , said all of

his firm's clients suffered serious respiratory problems because of the

courthouse conditions.

''That courthouse has been deteriorating since I've been practicing law,''

said , a former state senator.

The lawsuits seek damages and the relocation of court services out of the

courthouse.

County officials would not comment, saying they had not been served with the

suit yet. But County Mayor Ritter said leaders are trying to address

the building's problems.

''Clearly the county commission understands that the courthouse is an aging

building,'' Ritter said, ``and we continue to have ongoing challenges to

ensure that the complex remains viable for public use.''

Representatives of the companies being sued could not be reached for

comment.

Those claiming damages are Patti Buchholtz, Sun Rentel, Spony, Jody

Romm and her husband Romm, and Stefanie Krathen Ginnis and her husband

Ginnis.

Broward's courthouse isn't the first in the region raising concerns about

mold.

Lawsuits also have been filed by the family of late U.S. Magistrate Theodore

Klein, contending that mold at Miami's federal courthouse contributed to the

illnesses that caused his death.

The Broward lawsuits outline several instances believed to have contributed

to the mold problem, starting with water damage left behind after Hurricanes

Katrina and Wilma tore through Broward County in 2005. Air samples taken

afterward showed the courthouse 'was a `very sick' building with long standing

water intrusion problems,'' the lawsuit stated.

A pair of pipe bursts worsened the conditions. One in late 2008 soaked court

files, knocked out phone service and forced the building to close for several

days. A second in January added more water damage.

And on Feb. 12, a urinal on the eighth floor broke, flooding several floors

below, the lawsuit stated.

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