LAFAYETTE – A former office worker alleges that she was exposed to harmful chemicals when she was working at the former Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. and is seeking damages.
Laura Watson filed a lawsuit on Feb. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Olin Corp., citing premises liability and failure to provide a safe place to work.
Watson alleges that she began working for the defendant in 1948 until 1950 and again from 1952 to 1955. She was allegedly employed as an office worker/typist in the traffic department in a chemical plant in Lake Charles, owned by the defendant.
She claims that while employed, she was exposed to dangerously high levels of ammonia and other unreasonably dangerous materials and irritants. Such exposure, she attests, caused her severe injuries, including alleged chemical burns in her lungs. She asserts that defendant had the care, custody and control over the building, and had a duty to provide safety equipment, such as respiratory masks, and/or adopt methods to provide a safe work environment. Watson alleges that defendant failed in those duties.
Watson is suing for damages, attorney fees, and for any other relief deemed just by the court. She is represented by Scott R. Bickford, Lawrence J. Centola and Jason Z. Landry from Martzell, Bickford, & Centola in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Case number 5:16-cv-00235