School district claims teacher’s lawsuit ‘lacks merit’

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA - The lawsuit filed last month by an Estancia High School

art teacher who claims that unbearable noxious working conditions have

made her severely ill, has been deemed weak and frivolous by the school

district’s attorney.

“No. 1, we haven’t been served, so the district position would be that

they sincerely hope she will reconsider this action because it seriously

lacks merit,” said Nancy Mahan-Lamb, attorney for the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District and the six top-level administrators named in the

suit.

But Christine Goodhue, a visual arts teacher at the Westside high

school, will go ahead with the complaint against the district, said

Jeanette Viau, one of her attorneys.

The lawsuit, filed with the Superior Court on June 20, outlines the

events leading up to the suit from the day she began teaching at the

school in 1998.

In the more than 100-page lawsuit, Goodhue alleges the following.

* During her first year at Estancia, Goodhue began to experience

respiratory colds, bronchitis and such eye irritation that she had to

stop wearing contact lenses.

* During summer break in 1999, after her first year at Estancia, all

her health problems disappeared.

* In November of 1999, shortly after classes resumed, Goodhue and

others began to experience respiratory problems, severe headaches and

coughing in room 303, where she taught. She noticed strong foul odors,

including ammonia, chlorine, sulfur and mildew coming through the

ventilation system.

* On Nov. 29, 1999, Goodhue became faint, dizzy and short of breath,

and first reported the problems to the school’s administration.

* Goodhue continued to experience severer headaches and eye

irritation.

* During the winter break, her symptoms began to disappear again.

* When she returned to room 303 in January, odors once again emanated

from the ventilation system and her health problems resumed. During one

class period, noxious odors got so bad that the classroom was evacuated

and she and several students experienced respiratory problems, blisters

and rashes.

* On the day she returned to room 303 to teach, Goodhue collapsed in

front of the class and was taken to Hoag Hospital.

* Marion Fedoruk, a doctor at UCI, evaluated Goodhue for the workers

compensation case and reported that an irritant around her classroom may

have been making her sick. Fedoruk later determined that Goodhue had

developed an “irritant-induced asthma as a consequence of her exposure to

substances at Estancia High School.”

These first complaints of illness were just the tip of the iceberg for

Goodhue, whose move from department to department and room to room are

also outlined in her complaint against the school district.

The school district hired the Mintie Corporation, and later others, to

go out to the school and test the air quality and the ventilation system.

Goodhue contends in her suit that the company initially found problems,

but then lost data and on subsequent tests cleaned up first and tested

later.

“The Feb. 7, 2000 Mintie report did note that: the operation of the

jewelry lab was unsafe; hazardous substances were used in school

classrooms unventilated; the electric kiln was improperly being operated

without venting and methane gas was possibly leaking into room 303 from

an improperly installed sink,” the lawsuit alleges.

The district denies that any unsafe conditions existed.

“The district will, if and when [they are served], vigorously defend

their actions and challenge Ms. Goodhue,” Mahan-Lamb said. “There were no

unsafe conditions.

“She was immediately moved, the air conditioning vents were cleaned

and found to be safe, ventilation air quality testing was done and found

to be safe,” Mahan-Lamb continued.

Another major incident, one that demanded evacuation, occurred when

Goodhue was in science room 746, she alleges.

Fumes once again emanated from the ventilation system and into the

science room in which Goodhue was teaching. She and students were

evacuated and later learned that there was a chlorine gas leak at the

pool, for which the Costa Mesa Fire Department was called.

When Goodhue put in for a transfer in June 2000, it was denied.

That denial was in accordance with the district agreement with the

Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, Mahan-Lamb said.

With the start of the next school year, Goodhue was assigned to return

to room 303, but became nauseous and ill and could not remain in the room

for more than 10 or 15 minutes, she said in her complaint.

She was moved to the foreign language department, where she also

experienced health problems.

On her last day at Estancia, Goodhue reported that she was “hit” with

the odor and that there was a visible dust cloud.

When she tried to wear a dust mask, she was told to remove it or “go

home” because it sent the wrong message, she alleges.

In contrast, school and the district administrations went out of their

way to accommodate Goodhue’s complaints, Mahan-Lamb said.

“They went the extra step and said ‘Let’s clean it up, let’s change

the flux in the jewelry making program,”’ she said. “There is proof that

there are no unsafe conditions.”