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BY KEN KOSKY
kkosky@nwitimes.com
219.548.4354 | Saturday, August 30, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
One of the workers who was badly burned by flames in a molten steel accident a year ago at ArcelorMittal's Burns Harbor plant filed a lawsuit Friday seeking more than $55 million.
The worker, Jeremy Schoon, 31, of Valparaiso, filed the lawsuit before Chief Lake Superior Court Judge John Pera.
Attorney Kenneth J. Allen, whose firm is representing Schoon, said Schoon has incurred more than $1 million in medical bills and is physically and emotionally scarred for life as a result of being burned on 60 percent of his body. Allen seeks at least $5 million in personal and monetary damages and at least $50 million in punitive damages.
"As the mills make record profits, death and injury to steel workers continues to increase. Something needs to be done to stop it," Allen said. "The goal of our suit is to send a message to the steel mills and the contractors they hire: Change your business model. Put worker safety first, above increased profits, not the other way around. This is an especially important message on Labor Day."
The lawsuit targets ArcelorMittal; EQ Engineers, which did design work at the facility; and Graycor Industrial Constructors, Inc., which constructed EQ's design work.
Schoon was one of seven workers burned Aug. 28, 2007, when flames and molten steel shot out of a basic oxygen furnace. Although the victims were wearing protective clothing, the heat was so intense they were burned.
Allen said companies like ArcelorMittal should be using some of their record profits to increase safety, but he said safety is actually decreasing.
Schoon's wife, Veronica Schoon, said her husband's life is forever changed, as daily stretching, medication and therapeutic baths consume his time.
She said the hardest thing for her husband is "not being able to do with the children what he's always done."
The Schoons have three children, ages 2, 7 and 10. Veronica Schoon said her husband, who was hospitalized for about a month, is back to work, but in an office because he must be in a temperature controlled environment for the rest of his life.
"It's been hard," Veronica Schoon said, crying.
Allen said Schoon is the first of the seven injured men to file suit, but he expects others to follow.
A spokesperson for ArcelorMittal did not return calls seeking comment.
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