Suffolk Superior Court Employees considering class action

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LOCAL NEWS Employees may sue to stop move to `sick' courthouse

by Weber

Friday, July 12, 2002

A cross-section of Suffolk Superior Court employees are considering a lawsuit against the state to stop a planned move back to the old high-rise courthouse at Pemberton Square, which they fear remains a health hazard. ``People are firm on the point that they're not going back into that building,'' said Suffolk Superior Court Clerk-Magistrate . cited a number of cases of cancer, upper-respiratory illness and other ailments developed by employees working in the Pemberton Square courthouse before the court operations were transferred to the former federal courthouse in Post Office Square in 1999. The Pemberton Square problems began during the 1993 waterproofing of the building's exterior. Scores of employees complained of burning eyes, asthma and other health problems. There never was concrete proof of a link between the building and cancer, but several dozen employees split a $3 million settlement from the state in 1999. Now many court employees are up in arms again after Trial Court Chief Justice Barbara Dortch-Okara issued a memo last week saying the federal government is refusing to extend a lease on the Post Office Square building beyond Jan. 31, 2004. As a result, Dortch-Okara plans to move the Superior Court back to the high-rise until a new courthouse is built and ready for occupancy - at the earliest in 2008. The new courthouse site is next to the Courthouse on New Chardon Street, where the Boston Municipal Court - also currently situated at Post Office Square - is slated to move. Suffolk Superior Criminal Court Clerk Nucci said the state estimates the cost of moving to and retrofitting the high-rise courthouse at $30 million. ``For me, $30 million is too high a price for the taxpayers to pay for a temporary relocation,'' Nucci said. Suffolk Superior Civil Clerk Donovan said he and his employees oppose the move. said some lawyers, including staffers with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, might join the lawsuit. Sources said judges would not join a suit, but many are opposed to the upheaval the move could cause.

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