Bunnell, FL - A Maitland based law firm issued a notice to Sheriff Rick Staly saying over 20 employees intend to file suit against the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
Those 27 employees are filing in reference to the FCSO Operations Center that Sheriff Staly evacuated in June, following three years of compensation claims by employees.
Those claims were filed after employees reported symptoms that could be related to the building. Some of the employees who returned to work since filing a claim reported their symptoms returning or getting worse.
"This litigation is no surprise to me and should be no surprise to anyone. I completely understand why affected employees have been advised to file a lawsuit by their attorney to protect their rights under Florida law," said Sheriff Staly.
The litigation, as attorney Geoffrey Bichler of Bichler, Oliver, Longo & Fox explains, falls under the category of negligence on FCSO's part.
The nature of the complaint is because employees believe they were exposed to toxins during their time at the ops center.
Bichler says that the Sheriff's Office owed their employees a safe work environment, which was breached by failing to "safely maintain and inspect" the Bunnell Operations Center.
The letter from Bichler also says that FCSO failed to warn employees about the danger of toxins in the building and they failed to correct the "unreasonably dangerous condition" caused by the toxins.
"I am only a tenant in a building owned by the County, as soon as I was notified and saw credible evidence about the impact on employee's health, I demanded the County evacuate everyone from it," said Staly.
Sheriff Staly says his first priority will be to make sur his employees receive the "care and compassion" they deserve, and that they have a safe and healthy work environment.
The last round of testing done on the operations center came in the first week of this year (January 5th). There still hasn't been any word on the results.
