Rhonda Fackler developed a cough late last year.

It wouldn't go away.

She saw a local doctor to try to get rid of it. It still wouldn't go away.

"She got real bad. She'd sleep in the chair. She'd wheeze at night," Don Fackler, her husband, said.

Rhonda said her symptoms included coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing and asthma attacks. She blames her sickness on fumes from the sump pump at her place of employment - the engineering building for the city of Warsaw.

A clue to a possible cause of Rhonda's illness came in April. Don said a janitor told former city planner Pat Hudson of a really bad diesel smell around the building. Rhonda said Hudson was the first person to suggest the diesel fuel fumes could be causing her problem. Hudson was Rhonda's boss at the time.

"There has been an automatic correlation from Mrs. Fackler that because she was sick, the cause was the fumes from the building," Hudson said Friday from Illinois where he moved after leaving his job with the city.

Hudson said the appropriate steps were taken to determine whether or not there was a problem, and speculation should be left to the experts.

Don said it was determined that some kind of petroleum chemicals were leaking into the sump pump. He said the pulmonologist said the fumes from those chemicals could be causing her illness.

In a letter to the field claim adjuster for workmen's compensation for Monroe Guaranty Insurance Co., pulmonary specialist Thomas E. Hayhurst, M.D., wrote: "I believe that Mrs. Fackler's work environment has been the sole cause of her respiratory problems."

The city fixed the problem by placing a vent on the sump pump, Don said. The pump is approximately 10 feet away from the furnace, which, he said, is always running.

"Rhonda's been exposed to that so long, she's developed a sensitivity to that," Don said. "The doctor told her to stop going to work."

Then Rhonda needed an operation for something else. Don said the city paid Rhonda $900 for the three weeks she was off for her surgery.

The money came out of Rhonda's insurance and vacation benefits, Don said.

City attorney Mike Valentine said Fackler ended up being paid twice for her compensatory time off.

"She was advanced in pay an excess of over $800," Valentine said. The compensatory pay was then given to Fackler by workmen's compensation. She was supposed to pay the city back for the advanced pay, Valentine said, and she still owes the money to the city.

The letter from Monroe Guaranty Insurance Co. to Rhonda Fackler stated:

"As we've discussed this check reflects our effort to compromise this matter from the standpoint that you were in fact disabled during this period of time from work. It is safely assumed there was some odor present at your place of employment. Your position and documentation from your physician would indicate this has aggravated your respiratory problems."

Elaine Call, clerk-treasurer for Warsaw, also wrote Fackler, asking Fackler to reimburse the city $861.64 because city policy "states that no employee can make more than 100 percent of compensation..."

While Rhonda was off for surgery an air quality test was performed on the building, Don said, and it was determined that the air quality was within IOSHA standards.

A June 18 letter from Valentine to Fackler said that Fackler's claims for workmen's compensation would be denied because there were no gases or chemicals in the air.

"This letter was prompted by Elaine Call, clerk-treasurer, when she 'incorrectly' informed Mayor Ernie Wiggins that my claim had been denied by workmen's compensation," Rhonda said. "She neglected to tell Ernie that my claim was 'temporarily' denied because workmen's compensation had not received the air test results back (at that time)."

Valentine said: "We had a second test performed. In either case, there was no problem with (the air quality)."

In the specialist's letter to the insurance company, Thomas E. Hayhurst, M.D., said he thought Rhonda's condition was caused rather than aggravated by her work environment.

Her claim was filed in June and has yet to be decided, Don said.

In a Oct. 13 letter, Valentine told Fackler that because she voluntarily terminated her employement around Sept. 18, "we are determining that you no longer work for the City of Warsaw."

Rhonda does work elsewhere, although she has never officially resigned or been fired from the city job.

"It's been terribly frustrating. We haven't found an attorney to tell us whether or not she has to (resign from her city job)," Don said.

Valentine said there comes a point that, when a person is offered their job back but continues not to show up, that they no longer have a job.

"A person can't have their cake and eat it, too," Valentine said.

Don claims the city has continually delayed the case. The air quality tests taken in April were not sent to Rhonda's specialist until August, he said.

Valentine said, "We take her case quite seriously. I'm not so certain they were delayed."

"I consulted with a lawyer for a while and he is familiar with everything up to my taking other employment and anything after that," Rhonda said. "He feels that in order to keep my fees down it would be better not to have him handle much, unless the claim is denied. He then will refer me to an attorney who specializes in workmen's compensation cases." [[In-content Ad]]