Pymm Thermometer

Description

Rodriquez suffered medical harm from mercury poisoning in the form of permanent brain damage from exposure in excess of the allowable limit due to working in an unventilated basement of a thermometer manufacturing facility, specifically from feeding broken thermometers into a glass crushing machine as part of the off-book mercury reclamation operation. Pymm Thermometer and Pak Glass Machinery operated out of the same building, with Pymm occupying the second floor and Pak the first floor. Pymm was primarily manufacturing thermometers, but was also involved with reclaiming mercury from broken thermometers. The operation was in the cellar of the building, which could only be accessed from a separate door outside the building, not the main entrance. Pak Glass manufactured, services, and repaired the machinery used by Pymm. In January 1981, workers complained to OSHA about conditions at the facility. State and OSHA inspectors found the workplace contaminated with mercury and found that workers were not provided protective masks. OSHA issued serious violations and assessed a $1400 fine. In 1984, the NY City Health Department was informed by a local doctor that he had found elevated mercury levels in a worker at the facility. The Health Department conducted an inspection and testing, and found similar results. In October 1985, a worker tipped off OSHA about operations in the basement, which turned out to be a dangerous, off-book mercury reclamation operation that began in 1983. After being tipped off, mercury levels in excess of five times those permitted by OSHA were measured. Rodriguez was not initally given a respirator, and when he was, he was to share a single respirator with another employee.

Prosecutors

District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman; Attorney General Robert Abrams