sick building syndrome

cxc

We have an employee who is claiming that she has been injured due to problems of mold and moisture in her workplace. Employee is a heavy smoker. Symptoms include swollen eyes, chronic fatigue, joint pains, allergies, bleeding. The employer has spend substantial time and money to fix this problem. Most recently, the employee was asked to consider transferring to another building. She refused and demands a half million dollar settlement. No workers comp claim has been filed. No request for reasonable accommodation, although the employer has approved sick leave requests, when asked for. We have no documentation from a doctor linking symptoms to the building. We have also indicated a willingness to find another job for the employee. Employee is going to a lawyer. Any thoughts on the employer's potential exposure.

System

Our company had some moldy basement offices years ago, and it caused some real medical problems. I suggest treating it like an on-the-job injury under workers' comp and OSHA.

For workers' comp, treat it like you would treat any other injury where the employee doesn't want to file a claim or doesn't want medical treatment. If the court considers it to be a workers' comp injury, your liability is limited. And I'm sure your state law addresses the situation of a workplace injury that aggravates a pre-existing condition.

And you should address this as a potentially dangerous working condition under OSHA. That is, bring in an expert to check out the problem and fix it, which could be difficult.

You probably want to document everything, especially your offer to send the employee to a doctor and file a workers' comp claim. Good luck.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Cheryl S SPHR

I might also suggest you have an engineering firm evaluate your building for air quality and other environmental issues. They may or may not find anything. We had an employee who raised this issue, but the evaluation did not turn up any problems with our building. It appears the employee was getting exposure outside the workplace. Since your employee is a heavy smoker, it is difficult to say if this is work related. You may also want medical documentation. A tough issue .... good luck.

awilliams

The issue of indoor air quality, including sick building syndrome, is discussed in-depth in our HR Special Report: The H in OSHA Stands for Health: Tips for Workplace Health and Injury Prevention. If you are a lawcenter member, you can go to the member area and download a copy for free. If you are not a law center member, you can order a copy for a small fee.

The report contains lots of information, as well as tips, for dealing with a situation where an employee complains about the indoor air quality of your building.

Good Luck!

Anne Williams
Attorney Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers, LLC

System

Here is a link to the special report Anne mentions in the previous message:

[url]http://www.hrhero.com/special.shtml#osha[/url]


Christy Reeder
Website Managing Editor
[url]www.HRhero.com[/url]

System

Sounds like she simply does not want to work. She wouldn't accept your offer to move her to another building? Come on. Anyone who would wish to continue working would jump at that chance at least to give a new work environment at try. Good luck, and look out for the inevitable suit. Document every single conversation you've had/will have with her. The fact that she is a heavy smoker is, of course, in your favor.

I've been through this and we got the issue dismissed. Hope the same happens for you.