Village could face lawsuit

POTSDAM — The village has been served with a notice of claim that the husband of a former village clerk may seek $12 million in damages for her alleged wrongful death.

Senior clerk Sharon M. LaDuke died in May at the age of 57, three months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos.

Thursday morning, village Clerk Lori S. Queor was served with a notice of claim from Belluck & Fox LLP on behalf of Ms. LaDuke's husband, Timothy J. LaDuke, stating the village may have failed to provide a safe work environment.

Village Administrator Michael D. Weil refused to discuss the legal action.

"We will be speaking to our counsel on this," he said.

The claim says that Ms. LaDuke's death may be attributed to carelessness, recklessness, negligence and gross negligence on the part of the village for failing to safely remove asbestos and monitor past asbestos abatement projects.

Ms. LaDuke was a village employee for 34 years until her death May 29.

The notice says Mr. LaDuke may seek $10 million from the village for Ms. LaDuke's alleged wrongful death, pain and suffering, and another $2 million for Mr. LaDuke's loss of consortium.

Richard M. White, the attorney representing the LaDuke family, said the legal papers served on the village Thursday put officials on notice that the LaDuke family is reserving the right to file a lawsuit in the future. He said the notice is a statutory precondition that gives the LaDuke family one year and 90 days to file suit in state Supreme Court.

Mr. White said the village can now request a hearing to investigate the merits of the LaDuke family claim, settle the claim outright, or prepare for court.

"We are not representing that the village is liable to the LaDuke family, we are simply protecting their legal rights if the law allows a recovery against the village," Mr. White said. "We are concerned about any asbestos exposure that Sharon may have had while a longtime village employee which contributed to her death from mesothelioma."

Mr. White said the New York City-based law firm, which specializes in mesothelioma cases, is continuing its investigation into how and where Ms. LaDuke became exposed to asbestos fibers. He said part of that investigation includes the Civic Center where Ms. LaDuke worked.

"At this time, we do not know if the village shirked its responsibilities or not to protect her from any friable asbestos in her work environment, but we are very seriously investigating this on behalf of her family," he said.

Joseph W. Belluck, a partner in the firm, said in August that his investigation includes determining whether an old boiler and asbestos-wrapped pipes were properly removed from the Civic Center in 1999 and 2000.

A separate 54-page lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court by Belluck and Fox this summer names 68 defendants they allege share responsibility for the death of Ms. LaDuke, including the Cleaver Brooks company, manufacturer of the old Civic Center boiler system.

Until Thursday, the village had not formally been named as a possible litigant in the case.

Village officials have been grappling with the issue of asbestos in the workplace for years, particularly since the death of Ms. LaDuke, and the village is now involved in several asbestos removal and abatement projects.

In recent months the village has conducted three separate air-quality tests to make sure no asbestos was found in the atmosphere. All three of the tests have come back negative, officials said.