Local

JCSU employee exposed to mold, lawsuit claims

By Tina Terry, wsoctv.com
By Tina Terry, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former employee at Johnson C. Smith University said mold on the campus made her sick and that officials fired her.

The woman filed a lawsuit and is going to federal court.

The woman who filed the lawsuit said she started working as a post office manager on campus in 2008.

She learned eight years later that she had been exposed to mold in the campus mail facility, according to the lawsuit.

Employees never knew about it until an environmental agency evaluated and assessed it in March of 2016, she said.

The company, Environmental Solutions Group, offers investigations into mold contamination.

Christine Taylor was the manager of the post office when the assessment was done.

She said she had already been suffering from headaches and congestion.

The school relocated employees to another building, but she continued having symptoms, she said.

In June, she filed a workers' compensation claim after she said the school refused to pay for medical treatment.

The building underwent remediation, and employees were moved back inside, but the building continued to have leaking and missing ceiling tiles and heating, ventilation and air condition problems, as well as other issues, according to the lawsuit.

In January 2017, Taylor said she asked to be moved to another building but her position was eliminated and she was eventually terminated after refusing to take a position as a security guard.

The state department launched an investigation after a complaint in December of 2016 but the findings did not warrant any further action.

JCSU officials did not comment on the matter.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com

Cox Media Group

Most Read