Location: Wisconsin
For context, I (18F) work as a housekeeper at a higher end resort in the northern part of Wisconsin. A week or so back, a woman staying in one of our cabins had attempted (and possibly accomplished) killing herself. I’m unsure because we cannot receive updates from emergency services due to HIPAA restrictions.
Regardless of whether or not she recovered, myself and another young housekeeper were the ones that found her in the hotel room. I won’t get too far in detail, but the scene was quite graphic in terms of bodily fluids and crime scene evidence laying around. My managers called the police but both the police and my managers told me and my coworker that it was our responsibility to clean it up.
I’ve never been trained in crime scene cleanup, the most I’ve done as a housekeeper is spot clean blood drops off of sheets or towels. This was a whole different situation entirely. My managers did help with wiping up some of the blood and spilled substances, but left the rest (including disposing of all towels and sheets) to us. All my manager did was fist bump me afterwards. When I got home that night, I took probably the longest shower of my life trying to scrub my skin completely clean.
Since this incident, I’ve felt incredible anxious and nauseous at work and I feel like passing out in the rooms which has never been an issue for me. Even when I’m not at work I have been struggling to eat or sleep.
I don’t know anything about suing anybody, but this entire situation feels wrong to me and several of my loved ones have encouraged me to seek legal action. Is this a reasonable measure I could take in this situation?
Edit: As far as evidence, I have photos of the cops in the hotel room, photos of the sheets, and a detailed voice memo from the same day explaining the entire situation and how I felt.
Comments
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Yeah, I think that you’re well within your right to make a claim against your employer because you were exposed to trauma and health hazards. Most importantly, you weren’t trained to handle stuff like this so I think, especially with that evidence you can make a strong case with OSHA.
Shrink here. The DSM5 permits for a PTSD diagnosis for anyone who is exposed to trauma inducing scenes such as murders, rape, and atrocities of war while on a professional occupation. If you are experiencing the other criterions for PTSD and a psychiatrist or psychologist agrees to diagnose you with PTSD, then perhaps a lawyer can help you seek compensation.
Just be sure you are transparent with the doctor who will evaluate you regarding your legal intentions.
Not a lawyer, but here’s my take…..Seems to me that the biohazard issue from this demanded a skilled crime scene cleaner. What if you came into contact with blood laced with Fentanyl, Meth, HepC, HIV, you name it, on an open wound? Or breathed in unknown pathogens. Your employer risked your health. Call OSHA, the Health Department, and anyone else in authority that should be notified.
It sounds like you may have developed some PTSD from the trauma of finding the customer and then having to clean up after the fact; you should be able to file a worker’s compensation claim to take some time off and seek counseling. I absolutely do not think the normal housekeeping staff would be equipped with the proper safety equipment to protect you properly while cleaning up excessive amount of body fluids and cleaning up after a suicide is not in your job description. Maybe contact OSHA? I read a book last year about a woman who had her own company cleaning up crime scenes, suicides, and contaminated sites and it definitely takes a special person to endure that sort of work, as well as special protective equipment and cleaning materials.
As a former workers compensation adjuster, I can tell you that in some states, you could file a claim for mental health if this caused you to develop a condition. In my state if a worker filed a workers compensation claim for mental health injury (PTSD or anxiety) this could be a covered claim.
I would look into your workers comp laws in your state or even reach out to an attorney who specializes in workers comp laws and ask. A lot of attorneys will do free consultations.
OSHA and your state can have requirements on how to clean up blood and other bodily fluids and disposal of materials used to clean.
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2007-05-22
Anything on the job usually falls under workers comp, including if you have mental health issues stemming from work. It’ll pay for medical costs and lost wages if you need to miss work.
You won’t be able to cleanup after a suicide because you’ll be dead…
Not a chance a police officer told you to clean that up. Biohazard. Not his or her place. Your boss didn’t want to pay for proper clean up so used you. If you refused and he fired you, some things might be different. I live in a right to work state so can be fired for no reason. Not a lawyer
I’m sorry. That’s horrible. Everybody knows there are companies that perform this particular kind of work. As everybody suggests, talk to an employment lawyer. Who can say, but if it’s a high end resort it seems to me the kind of thing they’d rather settle than litigate in public.
NAL and not offering legal advice. My sister was in a similar situation after finding our deceased grandmother and was so shaken she had to sleep bed with our mom for weeks and was an anxious wreck, still can’t bear that sight of blood or throw up. Please take care of yourself during this time. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, that sounds extremely traumatic. Hope you can be truly compensated for your labor and the toll this has taken on your mental, some of these comments seem very helpful. Big hugs
You should have told your boss to F-off, and left?
It’s lowkey fucked up that your manager and police look to an 18 year old to clean this up. I would contact a reputable lawyer and explain your experience and how it’s affected you.
In a hospital, specially trained people do big clean ups of bodily fluids. It’s a hazardous material.
Jeez sorry u had to go through that. If it is still affecting u know i would definitely pursue legal action. That’s not in ur job description to clean up suicides. That is completely unprofessional on ur jobs end for making u clean that.
I’m not sure of any compensation you may or may not be entitled to, but you should not be responsible for hazmat/biohazard situations unless you are trained for hazmat/biohazard situations.
Reach out to OSHA and look for a free consultation with a lawyer to learn your next steps
NAL, but honestly if you didn’t do it you probably would have been fired. Someone more experienced should have done it with you, or gave you a hard outline about what to do. The important thing for OSHA is that you had all “necessary” equipment available for your use. You should have been wearing PPE, at the very least. I’ve had to clean after self harming people before and it’s not fun. You can probably file a claim with your insurance regarding mental health stuff as others have said.
I would never have wanted to clean my brother’s house after he was murdered. We called crime scene specialists to do the job and were very grateful for it. There’s a lot of biohazard in all that blood.
First responder here with family who owns a few ServPro franchises.
Crime scene cleanup is typically up to Law Enforcement/Forensics, the ME/Coroner, etc., for any pieces of a body (brain matter, etc.) that are larger than, say, a walnut. Does this always happen? Absolutely not. It also seems to vary by SOPs. Once the scene is released, ServPro then comes in and cleans everything else with proper biohazard Tyvek suits and proper biohazard disposal.
You should not be handling biohazardous waste without the proper training. Contact a local lawyer for assistance with this. Best of luck.
Good Lord, we’re you provided biohazard suits and gear included gloves, masks, and a hood? Did you get red biohazard bags that were disposed of separately and safely? Did you fill out any reports? How much did they pay you separately for the cleanup? Hazmat crews can get as much as 5-10k per job. You definitely sound like you’re suffering from PTSD. I’d get some counseling. Does your company have employer-sponsored benefits where you could schedule a handful of visits and not have to pay out of pocket?
You are at the very least owed biohazard pay
I used to receive it when I worked for an industrial maintenance company.
Whenever I worked a crime scene, sewage, mold or around/with dangerous chemicals.
Id sue the city as well. You are trained in biohazard clean up and the police officer told you to do it. The company just didn’t want to spend the money and thought a 18 yr old would just suck it up.
It wasn’t correct to have you clean the room. You should get seen by a therapist to help sort out your feelings from the experience. That could be covered by work comp. Talk with your employer about that. A lawsuit would be brought for lost wages, medical not covered by comp etc. Right now you have nothing to sue for. Certainly, if you continue to struggle emotionally, do a consult with a PI attorney.
100%… call and lawyer. Emotional stress and your not biohazzered trained or certified
Your claim here is IIED. Discuss with a PI lawyer willing to work on spec.
NAL: This is a quick call to OSHA, they forced you to do a bio clean up in what constitutes a crime scene (until the mortician declares it a suicide). You weren’t trained or provided the proper PPE for that sort of job. That a big no-no, they should have hired a professional company.
I have no idea how it would work legally but I do know that there are companies specifically for crime scene cleanup. I’m willing to guess that they made their housekeepers do it instead of hiring the proper professionals because 1. They don’t spare anything that’s even a little contaminated, they’ll remove whole chunks of wall or floor if need be, and 2. They’re (rightfully) expensive. Absolutely worth contacting a lawyer.