Document R5bYvbje3E3R5zLjdKw2V4bX

' - -A H,. *. , ' " .. i< - ..-5'. v.'^' y-X>/'t DAVID WARGO Lorain Man Sues B.F. Goodrich For $377,000 By JOHN COLE Staff Writer LORAIN SIDEWALK inspector David Wargo and his wife Bernice filed a $377,000 lawsuit against the B.F. Goodrich Co. yesterday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The suit, which asks $302,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages, charges that Wargo. was not informed about the dangers of vinyl chloride, that his personnel records were shown to fellow employes and that the company refused to transfer Wargo because of a back injury. Wargo of 1641 Root Rd., Lorain, worked at Goodrich in Avon Lake from 1967 until October, 1974. For the first five years he worked in the vinyl chloride Operation, the company said this morning. Contact with vinyl chloride has been found to cause angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer. Charles Arthur of Elyria died from the disease Nov. 2 of last year. Arthur had worked at B.F. Goodrich in Avon Lake for 31 yean. Wargo's attorney In te I f -Kuzeta injured his back while working at theplant. He said the company refused to transfer Wargo to another job after receiving medical opinions from several doctors that Wargo restrict his work activities. Kuzela said Wargo developed "a serious back problem'' from turning an overhead valve at the plant. His employment was terminated in 1974. Wargo said the company continually questioned his doctor's reports and "terminated" him for refusing to do assigned work. I Another charge in the suit was that the company failed to educate the employes about the effects and causes of vinyl chloride poisoning. Kuzela said there are indications that the company was aware of the dangers yet did not take adequate steps to correct the problem. Wargo said this morning that the company showed movies about the possible explosiveness of vinyl chloride, but never warned him about liver cancer or the long range effects. Kuzela said Wargo had liver tests that showed irregularities, but that a later test showed no problems. The suit says the final medical effects won't be known for some time. The suit also says that Wargo's personnel records were shown to fellow employes in an attempt to discredit and s ridicule him and cause him to quit his job. A Goodrich spokesman said this morning the company had no comment on the lawsuit because they had not yet been served notice of it. n BFG28889 23970001