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March 7 2007
John J. Herbst Jr, a Lower Windsor Township man filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming that he was fired from the county's nursing home for reporting allegedly dangerous levels of asbestos in the flooring of the building. He was a carpenter at the nursing home. Herbst debates that he was fired for telling county officials about deficient safety precautions. Marlin Peck, the Administrator of the nursing home refused to comment on the issue however, he told state testing had proved that the minute amount of asbestos in the home's flooring was not hazardous. Mike Flannelly, the County Solicitor also declined to comment as he hadn't seen the lawsuit. It was in November 2002 the nursing home called Pleasant Acres Nursing & Rehabilitation Center hired Herbst as a carpenter. As a part of his job, he had to remove floor tiles. According to the litigation, a painter at the nursing home cautioned him in September 2003 that the floor tiles contained asbestos. Herbst, concerned by this hint, asked his supervisor John Cadek for safety equipment to remove the tiles. He requested to test tiles for asbestos as well. However, the supervisor ignored his request and asked him to wear a dust mask and go ahead with the job. Herbst had to continue the job of removing the tiles as he would have lost his job otherwise, according to the claim. The lawsuit says that a grievance was filed by Herbst with his union, Teamsters Local 776. A union representative's letter said the issue was resolved as Cadek agreed to have tile tested and to provide adequate protection if necessary. However, neither happened according to the suit. Herbst took a piece himself and conducted an independent testing which proved the levels of asbestos in the flooring was extremely high. He stopped the job afterwards, the lawsuit says. Herbst was fired on Aug. 15, 2006 as he allegedly falsified records by misrepresenting when he had arrived at work on his time clock adjustment form. He says that the real reason behind this was that he raised concerns about the presence of asbestos in the tiles and the lack of protection provided by the nursing home. The case was filed in the U.S. Middle District Court last month. Herbst is seeking a compensation of more than $500,000 in damages, attorneys' fees, lost wages, interest and costs in the suit. According to him, the county and nursing home have violated the state Whistleblower Law and interfered in the right of free speech.
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