Widow of Poisoned Worker Misses Two Year Window

Sandra Cooper, the widow of a worker who was poisoned following the clean up of a hazardous chemical spill, missed her legal deadline on a lawsuit accusing Armstrong World Industries plant of fraud and recklessness.

It didn’t take long for Sandra to realize that something was wrong with her husband’s health following the clean-up of the chemical spill. Immediately following the almost week long clean-up process, Mr. Cooper came home with eyes watering and uncontrollable coughing. Within months, he was having difficulty remembering his work schedule, recalling people’s names, and identifying individuals. 

Less than a year later, Armstrong placed Mr. Cooper on disability. Two years after, he was ruled to be incapacitated and was placed in an assisted living facility. In late 2007, Mr. Cooper was diagnosed with work-related encephalopathy which resulted in his dementia. In 2012 a worker’s compensation claim was granted on the grounds that Gene Cooper’s condition was due to chronic solvent and chemical exposure while working at the Armstrong plant. 

Sandra appealed to the Superior Court, after her case was dismissed on the statute of limitations grounds. This was due to the fact that Sandra’s suit had been filed in 2013, which was 10 months after her two-year deadline for suing the firm expired. 

Sandra claims that the delay in her suit was due to information on her husband’s chemical exposure being lost or destroyed by Armstrong during a move to a new facility. However, in 2011, Sandra learned from a fellow worker of her husband that the records would still be in Armstrong’s computer system. 

Gene Cooper died in early 2014, at the age of 58. This was following his wife’s law suit on the grounds of fraud, conspiracy, and recklessness. After her husband’s death, Sandra filed another suit containing a wrongful death claim. 

In backing the decision to dismiss the earlier fraud/recklessness case, President Judge Susan Peikes Gantman rejected Sandra Cooper’s claims that the concealment of documents delayed her ability to sue. Between 2005 and 2010, multiple doctors informed Sandra that her husband’s condition was a work related illness. Mrs. Cooper also knew about the concealment of records by 2010, but had not filed her suit until 2013. 

The conclusion was that Sandra Cooper's two-year statute of limitations to sue Armstrong stretched from 2010 to November of 2012. She missed her window by 10 months.