Suit: CTA Worker Contracted Fatal Disease On The Job
UPDATED 12/28/10 5:59 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) – The spouse of a CTA employee who allegedly died of Legionnaires' disease he contracted while on the job filed a lawsuit Monday.
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Pierce had been working with another CTA electrician on an 'L' train car washing machine in a CTA rail yard near Midway Airport on July 17, 2009, when a blast of stagnant water struck him in the nose, mouth and face. The next day Pierce became very ill with an extremely high fever.
He was placed in an induced coma until he died on Aug. 5, 2009, according to the DuPage County coroner's office.
To keep its buses and trains passenger-ready, CTA vehicles pass through high-power washers, where health officials say the bacterium that causes Legionnaire's Disease could grow.
The suit claims Windmill Environmental Services LLC and manager Jerome W. Dykstra were responsible for maintaining high-powered pressure washers used to clean buses and trains.
The lawsuit alleges that Windmill Environmental and Dykstra failed to inspect and remove conditions that allowed the CTA washing tanks to become contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.
Pierce died Aug. 5, 2009, as a result of complications from Legionnaire's Disease, the suit said.
A spokesman from Windmill Environmental Services could not be reached for comment.
Pierce's wife, Heather, is seeking more than $100,000 plus the cost of the suit from Windmill Environmental Services and Dykstra.
The CTA previously said there was no evidence Pierce contracted Legionnaires' from the agency's work site.
Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire
