Fired Worker Says He Blew Whistle on Asbestos
A carpenter at a York, Pennsylvania-area nursing home says he was fired after he blew the whistle about allegedly hazardous levels of asbestos in the building’s flooring.
The York Dispatch reports that John J. Herbst Jr., a former employee at the Pleasant Acres Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, is suing the county for more than $500,000 in damages, attorneys’ fees, lost wages, interest and costs in the suit. Herbst claims that the county and its nursing home violated the state Whistleblower Law and his right to free speech.
Herbst, who was hired in 2002, says that part of his job at the home was to remove floor tiles. The lawsuit claims that the carpenter was warned by a contracted painter in 2003 that the floors contained asbestos. The article states that Herbst then asked his supervisor for safety equipment to remove the tiles and asked that the tiles be tested for asbestos.
His supervisor refused to perform the tests and instead told Herbst to wear a dust mask, the lawsuit says. While Herbst did not believe that the mask would provide adequate protection, he nonetheless continued to remove tiles for fear he would lose his job, the suit contends.
After filing a grievance with his union, Herbst was told that testing would be performed, but it never happened. The carpenter decided to have the tiles tested on his own and the results confirmed his suspicions that hazardous levels of asbestos were present. He was fired shortly thereafter, but was told it was because he “allegedly falsified records by misrepresenting when he had arrived at work on his time clock adjustment form.â€
