Military and civilian employees who have traveled to Iraq have faced all sort of hazards. Patricia Howard wants to add one more to the list: pigeon droppings.
Howard is suing USA Environmental (USA-E) in federal court, alleging its managers exposed her to hazardous pigeon poop.
She took a job for USA-E in January 2004 as an ammunition handler, helping to dispose of 100 tons of explosives per day.
Her lawsuit claims the warehouses where she worked were covered with thousands of pounds of excrement that accumulated in the sites for years. Then, the suit claims, the droppings, dead birds and dry desert heat combined to cover the warehouse floors in filth.
Howard left USA-E and now works in HR for a corrugated container company. Doctors haven’t diagnosed her with any illnesses after returning from Iraq, but she says there’s no way of knowing if she’ll become ill later.
Her lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of monetary damages.
