Worker Says Asbestos Query Cost Him His Lawndale Job

A former Lawndale employee, who says he and other youths were unknowingly exposed to asbestos while cleaning up rubble left from three city-owned buildings last summer, has told the City Council he was wrongly fired for trying to get information about the matter.

Joe Maradiaga, 19, made his comments Thursday, moments after the Council agreed in a 3-1 vote to pay the legal bills of City Manager James Arnold and Public Works Director James Sanders, who have been criminally charged for their roles in the demolition last June.

Both men pleaded not guilty Thursday to 17 misdemeanor counts of illegally disposing hazardous waste and failing to comply with state and federal regulations regarding the handling of asbestos.

“If I have to go to court, I will, because I had my rights violated,” Maradiaga told the council. “I think that was wrong that I got fired, and I want my job back.”

Maradiaga said in an interview that he was employed in a summer youth program last June when he and several other youths were asked to help clean up the demolition site. The youths were never told that they could be exposed to asbestos and were not ordered to wear any special clothing, as required by federal health and safety regulations, he said.

In April, about five months after he was hired by the city’s Public Works Department as a part-time employee, Maradiaga learned from co-workers that he and the other youth workers may have been exposed to asbestos.

Worried about possible health effects, Maradiaga said, he made copies of a city-commissioned lab report that was hanging on a rack next to Sanders’ office. The report said the city was not negligent in the way it disposed of the asbestos.

On May 3, Sanders called Maradiaga into his office and fired him on the spot, Maradiaga said.

“He said they could charge me with tampering” for making copies of the report, Maradiaga said. “He said I wasn’t part of the team.”

Lisa Farrell, an employment specialist with the federally funded Summer Youth Employment Training Program, said Maradiaga received good evaluations from his supervisors during the job program.

She said she was concerned about Maradiaga’s allegations because at least four other teen-agers helped clear rocks from the demolition site two days after bulldozers razed the buildings.

The teen-agers have not yet been told about the matter because “we don’t know if these kids were actually exposed to anything,” she said. If prosecutors find that the youths came into contact with asbestos, she said they will be notified.

Neither Sanders nor Arnold would comment on the events surrounding Maradiaga’s termination, nor on whether teen-agers helped clear the site of debris.

Arnold’s attorney, Patricia Friedel, said Maradiaga’s firing was “unrelated to the copying incident. There were legitimate reasons for his termination, but at this time we would rather not discuss personnel matters.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony Patchett said Friday that he recently learned of Maradiaga’s allegations and that the matter is under investigation. If it is learned that workers came into contact with asbestos without being properly advised of the hazards and without receiving proper protective gear, additional charges may be filed, he said.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that workers who come into contact with more than the permissible limit of asbestos use respirators, wear protective clothing, and receive instruction in the handling of asbestos and its hazards.

If convicted of the current charges, both men face a minimum of $37,000 in fines. Patchett said he would seek minimum sentences of 90 days in jail for Arnold and 180 days in jail for Sanders.

Mayor Harold Hofmann told Maradiaga on Thursday that the City Council could do nothing to help him get back his job and that he would have to take his appeal elsewhere. Hofmann noted that Arnold is the only city employee hired directly by the council. All other hiring decisions ultimately are Arnold’s responsibility.

Before the Thursday night vote to pay legal fees for Arnold and Sanders, City Atty. David Aleshire told the council it has no obligation to pay for their defense because they are charged in a criminal case.

However, Aleshire said, if the council believes that the two men acted in good faith and within their scope as city employees in demolishing the buildings, it may choose to pay their legal fees.