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A Rash Of Court Illnesses
Lawyers, Judges and Other Employees Say the Tulare County Courthouse is Riddled with Toxic Mold And Should Be Shut Down
Lawyers, Judges and Other Employees Say the Tulare County Courthouse is Riddled with Toxic Mold And Should Be Shut Down
SAN FRANCISCO - At first, courtroom clerk Margie Sadler figured her runny nose and scratchy throat were just allergies, a common complaint among Tulare County residents living with the pollen and pesticides of their agricultural community.
"I first started feeling bad in 1998 but I thought it was just because of living in the [San Joaquin] Valley," said Sadler, a 13-year county employee.
But then others who worked at the Visalia courthouse - court staff workers, lawyers and judges - started noticing rashes that wouldn't go away as well as vertigo and worse.
Tulare Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Krant visited several doctors in 1999, trying to find the cause of a disturbing range of symptoms: ugly rashes and swelling spreading across her body, hair loss, nearly passing out and having trouble communicating with her court reporter and young daughter.
By the spring of 2000, Krant and some 80 other court employees were on sick leave, too ill to work. With about one-third of the courthouse staff missing, the county was forced to curtail some services.
Now the judge is one of nearly 300 people who have filed claims and lawsuits against Tulare County, claiming their headaches and breathing difficulties were caused by exposure to toxic molds in Tulare's three courthouses. The legal battle by judges and court personnel seeks to shut down facilities they believe are unsafe to work in.
But so far, the county has denied all workers' claims, pointing to studies that found only moderate mold levels which would affect only sensitive people.
In her March 2000 suit to close the county courthouse in Visalia, Krant claims the building is riddled with toxic mold that made her and hundreds of other workers sick.
In addition, her suit charges that county officials deliberately downplayed the extent of the contamination and withheld the results of lab tests showing a toxic mold known as Stachybotrys chartarum had been found in the ceiling above her chambers and may have caused her symptoms.
Among the toxin-producing molds, Stachybotrys can cause some of the most extreme health effects; those exposed to it experience flu-like symptoms, fatigue, respiratory conditions, fever, difficulty breathing and suppressed immune systems.
In the months following Krant's suit, more than 275 employees, including three judges, filed general liability and workers' compensation claims against the county, claiming injuries caused by hazardous working conditions.
They were all denied.
"There was no scientific or medical evidence to support the claims," explains Gregg Breed, the county risk manager. Only the claims by Krant and other judges, who are state employees, were approved.
To date, five suits similar to Krant's, representing more than 100 workers and attorneys, have been filed against county officials and construction companies. The suits seek unspecified monetary damages and a court order shutting down the Visalia courthouse unless the contaminants are removed. The suits are scheduled for jury trials in 2002.
During her March testimony to a state legislative hearing considering bills to establish the world's first standards setting exposure limits for toxic mold, Krant described the range of ailments she traces to a softball-sized mound of gelatinous, greenish-black Stachybotrys found above her chambers.
"It's not normal to lose so much of your hair. It is not normal to practically pass out," she declared, adding that even with 18 years on the bench, she sometimes had a hard time following lawyers' arguments.
To make matter worse, Krant said she battled the county to get crucial information and endured rumors that she was just a "hysterical female" going through menopause.
"It was not until several other male judges began to complain of illnesses that that rumor was dispelled," she testified. "I went for months not having this information" that she complained was not fully distributed "until the rest of the court and judges confronted the county to give the rest of the report out."
The county denies hiding anything. "No pages were intentionally withheld from any report," said the county's attorney, Michael G. Woods of McCormick Barstow Sheppard Wayte & Carruth of Fresno. "Not all inspection reports are generally distributed but when she asked for it they gave it to her."
And employees were continually updated about the situation, Breed said.
Presiding Judge Patrick J. O'Hara noted that studies requested by the bench determined the building is safe. "The question is whether the mold has been fully ameliorated and what, if any, long-term effects are caused by exposure to it?"
O'Hara has heard from "a number of people with persistent symptoms in this courthouse," including unexplained rashes, breathing problems and a lack of energy. He has no doubts about Krant's ailments. "I know her," O'Hara said. "She was legitimately, seriously ill."
Breed stresses that two certified industrial hygienists who inspected the buildings "repeatedly concluded the courthouse was not unsafe for people to work in." Mold levels found inside were harmful only to sensitive people, he said, and typical molds found in the courthouse were at lower levels than those outside.
"If they had said that building wasn't safe I would be the first one over there to tag it and kick everyone out," Breed asserted, adding, "I could face criminal liability if I didn't."
When mold was found under the carpet in the elections office, it was torn out and the whole floor was cleaned. "We followed their [certified industrial hygienists] guidance and direction and implemented his recommendations," Breed said.
The crux of the suits, says plaintiffs' attorney Alexander Robertson IV , is the consultant's conclusion in a May 1999 report that although Krant's symptoms were likely caused by the Stachybotrys mold, the county did not release until February 2000 sections of the study showing how much of the toxic Stachybotrys variety was found and its possible connection to the judge's ailments.
"The county sat on that report for almost a year and they have yet to implement a single recommendation, like changing or repairing the ventilation and air conditioning systems," said Robertson , a Woodland Hills attorney and toxic mold specialist.
"The $64,000 question is why haven't they torn it down?" he said, noting that Santa Clara County closed its San Martin courthouse in 1999 after employees complained about asthma attacks and bronchitis. Some court personnel said the county could have avoided the lawsuits if officials had closed the courthouse and cleaned up the mold when it was first reported.
If there is no health hazard, why were workers dressed in "moon suits" brought in recently to remove contaminated court records from a basement room, Robertson asks.
"They were too contaminated to be saved, and the county still hasn't figured out what to do with them, but the county doesn't have a mold problem?" he said with a laugh.
Woods responded that the hazardous material suits are a common precaution that was recommended by the industrial hygienist.
The county has disputed the findings of a state survey of court facilities that recommended replacement of the ventilation systems in three of the county's four courthouses, also listed in the suits. Last fall's evaluation found "major indoor air quality problems" in the Visalia courthouse, noting an "active mold growth in a courtroom and chamber area."
"Everybody keeps telling them they have a mold problem but they keep sticking their heads in the sand," Robertson said.
Results of the air tests have been misleading, Robertson said, because they focused on the total number of mold spores, not what kind they are. In fact, the Legislature's hearings on the mold bills referred to a report by a Washington state toxicologist that noted Stachybotrys "is not readily measured from air samples ... even though it is present in the environment and those who breathe it can have toxic exposures."
The irony of the situation, notes Robertson , is that the state's evaluation found mold and air quality problems in the buildings and approved the workers' compensation claims by Krant and other judges.
Yet courthouse staff members working in the same environment had their claims rejected by the county.
As the state assumes more responsibility for the courts as part of the trial court funding effort, it is considering taking over court facilities, but estimates that overdue maintenance will cost $1 billion; mushrooming energy costs have stalled the issue.
"The county is waiting for the state to take over," Robertson speculated. "This is a hot potato, and the county is really trying to screw these people. In the meantime the people working in the trenches are taking the full brunt of this."
The state Attorney General's office has been monitoring the county's response, Robertson said, and state health officials have investigated employee claims and have visited the county to interview courthouse workers and examine medical records.
Santa Clarita medical toxicologist Dr. Gary Ordog, who has more than 20 years of experience studying human poisoning cases, has examined hundreds who worked in Tulare County courthouses, including employees, judges and lawyers. A majority of the blood tests showed exposure to Stachybotrys, he said.
The worst case resulted in severe brain damage, according to Ordog. Others exhibited symptoms similar to victims of strokes and multiple sclerosis.
"Basically, it poisons your whole body," Ordog explained, noting the toxic mold is so lethal it has been used in biological warfare. In fact, Stachybotrys is what killed so many archaeologists who came in contact with King Tut's tomb, he said, not the infamous mummy's curse.
Court employees who took sick leave recovered but got sick again when they returned to work, Ordog said.
The use of blood tests to establish exposure to mold was rejected by the state in a 1999 case involving a school site, county attorney Wood notes, and emphasized such test results are inconclusive.
"They've never found anything that pinpointed the cause of these symptoms," Woods said. "They could have symptoms associated with these things [mold] but the exposure could have occurred at home or walking around."
Union officials assert the county is just trying to dodge a bullet for the mold issue and the recurring health problems because it could bankrupt the county.
"The county's philosophy has been to accept no liability and refuse to acknowledge any claims. I think it's outrageous; it's criminal," said David Caravantes of the Central California Association of Public Employees, who has filed complaints with the state and federal governments over what he charges is a failure to provide accommodations for people disabled by illnesses. "They've failed to perform or exercise any of their responsibilities."
He concurs with Robertson's assessment that air tests are inadequate to determine contamination and suggests that the walls where moisture has accumulated from rain leaks have to be torn out and tested. Part of the problem, Caravantes said, is that the county has not done adequate maintenance in the buildings.
About the time the Stachybotrys was discovered in Krant's chambers, some 90 staff members were out sick, he said. At least 60 workers who become severely ill have been diagnosed with reactions to toxic molds, Caravantes said, and about 40 are still out.
"The biggest problem is most of these people are women supporting families so they have to go back to work because they can't exist on disability and they need the paycheck," said Caravantes, noting that most make about $30,000. "They tried to go back to work and had reoccurring illnesses."
As for courtroom clerk Sadler, she has endured a litany of severe health problems: recurring severe diarrhea, memory loss, a malfunctioning thyroid, loss of hair and skin pigment and brain damage. After taking some time off, she returned to work.
"I started feeling better and very guilty about being off," she said. "I was thinking I should show dedication to my job and career.
After just three days back on the job, Sadler was driving home when she became disoriented.
"I couldn't think properly and had a hard time making sense," she said. Sadler ended up in the hospital where doctors thought her she had suffered a stroke.
Tests showed damage to her thymus. She subsequently lost her driver's license.
"My husband said, 'I don't want you to go back to work. I don't care how poor we are.' I feel sorry for my co-workers who had to go back because they're the sole bread winners. Some women had no choice," Sadler said.
Meanwhile, Krant, who rejected suggestions that she take disability retirement, has returned to work on a part-time basis.
"It's not just an issue of physical disability," Krant, 47, testified at the March hearing. "It's an issue of emotional and mental disability, depression and a fear of losing your career and everything you've worked for.
"I have worked very hard to become a judge. I do not intend to allow courthouse conditions to ruin my career."