A former TV news staffer's pioneering lawsuit regarding bedbug bites she obtained at her office has been tossed out by a judge who said workers can't necessarily hold their employers' landlords responsible for injuries that take place while working.
According to The Associated Press, Jane Clark's lawyer said recently that his client planned to appeal the dismissal of the case, which the court claimed apparently marked the first time a worker sued an employer's landlord over bedbugs. (WCxKit)
Repeated bedbug bites at work forced Clark to exit her position as a Fox News satellite feed coordinator in 2008 and reportedly led to post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries, according to her lawsuit. She hasn't been able to work since, according to her lawyer, Alan Schnurman.
After Clark and others complained, the company scanned not only the cable news channel's office but some employees residences for bedbugs, ultimately discovering that the pests were arriving with a worker who resided in a heavily infested apartment and shared an office desk with Clark, according to the ruling, filed April 12. The other employee is no longer employed there, according to Clark's lawsuit.
Clark sued the building's landlord, among others, though not Fox News, from which she received workers compensation benefits, according to the ruling.
According to the judge, the lawsuit basically asked the court to find a landlord liable for any injury to tenants employees, regardless of the cause, but that was "inconsistent" with the law.
But to Schnurman, the ruling amounts to informing an employee "that the environment doesn't have to be safe for you." (WCxKit)
"If she's right, that means no employee is safe in their workplace from bedbugs," he added.
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