Families claim chemical at Motorola plants caused birth defects
Two families filed a joint lawsuit against Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc., claiming their work exposed them to toxic chemicals that caused birth defects in their children.
They claimed they were exposed during the 1990s to ethylene glycol ethers, vapors that could be breathed in and be hazardous to reproductive organs and fetuses, according to studies. The chemical was prevalent in rooms used during the production of semiconductor chips for electronic devices. Motorola had a semiconductor business until 2004 when it spun off as a publicly traded company called Freescale Semiconductor Inc., in Austin, Texas.
"The birth defects often are very different due to the type of genetic damage," said attorney Kevin Conway with Cooney Conway, a Chicago law firm.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages. Motorola has about 30 days to respond to the charges of negligence, misconduct and exposing workers to "abnormally dangerous and ultra hazardous activity."
"Motorola has not been served with a copy of the complaint. We will review the complaint upon receipt," said Motorola spokeswoman Paula Thornton Greear.
The court documents said that Leslie and Thomas Garrison both worked at the Austin plant when she was pregnant. Their son, Andrew, was born in January 1998 with birth defects of the brain and is in special education classes.
Tina and Joseph Erwin Sr. both worked at the Phoenix, Ariz., plant when she was pregnant. Their son, Joseph Jr., was born in September 1997 and was put on oxygen for about nine months due to heart and lung problems. The child continues to have medical problems with his heart and lungs, walks with a limp and has speech problems.
As the years passed, the Erwins and the Garrisons talked with others who worked under similar circumstances and learned their children's birth defects could be connected to the chip plants. Their research led them to local counsel, who then suggested they contact Conway.
"They just didn't have adequate protection," said Conway. "They wore some things that looked like surgical garb to help protect the chip making process so it wouldn't be contaminated. They weren't protected themselves."
The court documents cite studies and sources on the dangers of ethylene glycol ethers, including warnings from different organizations and agencies, such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
"NIOSH recommends in general that ethylene glycol ethers be regarded as a potential reproductive hazard in the workplace," said institute spokesman Fred Blosser.