West, Clear Channel argue about mold sickness
Doctor told former on-air host she should leave her job
Originally published August 02, 2008
Frederick News Post- Frederick,MD*
By Ed Waters Jr.
News-Post Staff
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/business/display.htm?StoryID=78319
A decision on whether a former local radio personality's claim she
was sickened due to mold in the station is at least three weeks away.
Linda West, formerly an on-air host with WFRE in Frederick, claims
mold at the Grove Hill Road radio station led to headaches,
dizziness, sinus problems and other physical ailments. She worked
at the radio station from 1992 to February.
West said she saw evidence of mold at the station and was seen by
several doctors, including Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker.
It was Shoemaker, she said, who told her she had to leave her job
because mold was the cause of her illness. West said that since
leaving the radio station she feels better.
She appeared before Commissioner Lauren Sfekas of the Maryland
Workers Compensation Commission on Friday morning in Frederick.
Doug Hillard, vice president of Clear Channel and general manager of
the local radio station, said mold was found in a vent in a
conference room that had been created during renovation from three
small offices, and in the basement of an adjacent building used
infrequently by the station's engineers. Hillard said the station's
basement has been water damaged three times since he has been there.
Each time it was cleaned up and dehumidified, he said.
West said she had not missed any work because of her illness.
Bert Randall, Clear Channel's attorney, produced documents that
showed West had been advised by Shoemaker to leave in 2003 and that
she already had a job before quitting her position at WFRE in
February. She now works for the Discovery TV Channel in Virginia.
Randall questioned the medical decisions made by Shoemaker, but was
countered by West's attorney, James Lanier, on statements made by
Dr. Ronald Gots, who provided his medical perspective to Clear
Channel in a lengthy document.
The attorneys, and Sfekas, agreed the hearing was not the
appropriate place for legal debate of the doctor's capabilities in
the case.
Lanier said he would be sending additional information from
Shoemaker on the case to the commissioner.
Hillard, after the hearing, said that no other employees had
expressed problems with the alleged mold .
"Only one person out of all the staff has complained," he said,
referring to West. "I've been there 10 years and I'm not sick."
Sfekas will review the information and send a written decision to
the two attorneys in about three weeks, she said. The Frederick
Workman's Compensation Office hearing site is for cases in
Frederick, Washington and Carroll counties.
