March 1st, 2005

A former custodian at UNLV, John Giordano, recently filed a lawsuit against UNLV after being diagnosed with asbestosis. Mr Giordano, along with colleagues, notice that he was short of breath all the time whilst working at UNLV. He is now filing for compensation because he states that workers at UNLV were told to clean asbestos fibers without the necessary equipment or training.

The retired custodian filed his lawsuit in November of last year, and has since been joined by about forty others in the same situation. UNLV’s general counsel Richard Linstrom, stated that the claims will be settled through workers’ compensation.

Giordano, now aged 54 and retired, came into contact with asbestos along with other workers at UNLV. This was whilst vacuuming dust, removing debris from buildings, and having to use speed buffers on asbestos tiles. The plaintiffs have stated that they were not trained t work with asbestos and were not even given the correct or adequate protective equipment or clothing.

Asbestos is a known carcinogenic that can lead to scarring of the lung tissue, cancer, and other adverse health effects. These can come about through prolonged or regular exposure to asbestos fibers.