Safety Officer Sues School After Termination for Exposing Asbestos Risk

The former Environmental Health and Safety Officer for Paterson, New Jersey schools recently hit her employer with a lawsuitclaiming the defendant fired her as a retaliatory act for exposing the district’s illegal removal of asbestos from a school classroom. Since 2008, the plaintiff’s role with the school district had been to ensure the health and safety of around 23,000 students and 5,400 staff members, but she was apparently not allowed to perform her job for the sake of cutting costs.

According to her lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges she faced a hostile work environment after taking issue with the school district’s removal, storage, and disposal of asbestos and mold from several sites. Most notably, the school district allegedly hired contractors without the proper licenses to remove and dispose of the dangerous asbestos.

School Allegedly Failed to Follow State Asbestos Removal Laws

According to New Jersey health laws, only licensed contractors can perform asbestos removal as these companies understand the measure of care necessary to safely perform the job and train their workers to do so. Without such knowledge, general contractors can endanger their employees and innocent victims around the job site by kicking up the flaky white insulation into the environment.

Furthermore, once the asbestos has been safely removed from a site, the material must be properly stored and disposed of at state-licensed facilities. The defendant in this case allegedly kept the asbestos-contaminated material at another school site instead of being sealed properly within sites meant to mitigate any further exposure.

After her employer failed to heed the plaintiff’s advice and allegedly made work more difficult for her, the plaintiff filed a complaint with the district. However, this resulted in the plaintiff’s removal from her position and subsequent transfer to another department. Ultimately, the plaintiff claims she was let go for her adherence to protecting the health and safety of the students and staff in Paterson, New Jersey.

Mesothelioma Asbestos Exposure Lawsuits

While federal laws banned the use of asbestos in construction, industrial, and commercial settings, ordinary people can still develop mesothelioma when careless parties fail to consider the consequences of improperly disposing of old asbestos. When this happens, victims can hold negligent parties accountable by filing mesothelioma asbestos exposure lawsuits to recover for their medical treatment, lost wages, and other damages.

Speaking to an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer can help victims and their families better understand their case and determine their legal options to recover for the damages they have suffered through no fault of their own.

Nationwide Mesothelioma Lawyers

If you or a loved one were diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact our office to speak to one of our experienced nationwide mesothelioma attorneys about your situation. Our office can help investigate your case and determine if compensation can be sought from negligent parties to help pay for your medical treatment to help you and your family live a more comfortable life.