Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Noxious Carpet in Judge's Chambers Poisoned 2 Clerks: Lawsuits

By Gwynne Hogan | January 21, 2015 4:54pm
 Consolata Bajohr, 57, is suing the city for millions of dollars in damages.
Consolata Bajohr, 57, is suing the city for millions of dollars in damages.
View Full Caption
Facebook

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A carpet laid in a Brooklyn judge's chambers leeched poisonous chemicals that left two workers sick, two multi-million dollar lawsuits claim.

When Civil Court Judge Mark Partnow's chambers were renovated in October 2013, the two workers say that some kind of a flaw during carpet installation led to a chemical reaction that released noxious fumes into the air, according to their lawsuits.

“The odor was something I cannot even explain to you,” said Consolata Bajohr, 57, who was working as a secretary in the Brooklyn Supreme Court chambers.

“My eyes were burning. I had a metal taste in my mouth...I complained constantly. But I had do my work."

More than a year after the incident, Bajohr said she still suffers from bouts of dizziness, nausea and disorientation.

Cherise Hewitt-Ogilvie, 45, who was a law clerk, said she developed acute bronchitis, headaches, asthma and reactive airway disease after exposure to the chemicals.

Both women left work and haven't held down jobs since, they said.

A spokesman for the court said neither he nor Partnow could comment on Bajohr and Hewitt-Ogilvie's accusations because of open litigation.

A spokesman for the city's Law Department said the city is aware of the lawsuits and they will be reviewed. The Department of Citywide Administrative services, also named in both Bajohr and Hewitt-Ogilvie's suits, declined to give any additional comment. 

Bajohr and her husband filed suit at the Manhattan Supreme Court on Jan. 5 and are asking for a combined $19 million. Hewitt-Olgivie's lawyer, who filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, did not name a specific amount but estimated she would ask for about $1.5 million in damages. 

Before she left in the fall of 2013, Bajohr had worked as Partnow’s secretary for 11 years and had just earned herself the title employee of the year.

“Connie was a crackerjack. One of these people who can do everything," said her lawyer Jeffrey Steinitz.

"Whoever she worked for she ran that office. [Now] she probably couldn’t even function as a file clerk, that’s how dramatic the change is.”