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Ex-beryllium workers file claims

BRADENTON - Federal officials collected at least 130 compensation claims from former nuclear weapons workers in a two-day visit to Bradenton that ended Wednesday.

Most of the claims came from former employees of the American Beryllium Co., which operated from 1980 to 1991 in Tallevast. Some were filed by family members of former workers who have died.

All applicants shared a common concern: that their exposure to beryllium, known to cause severe respiratory illnesses, may have compromised their health.

Some already know the answer. Larry Richmond, 58, now of St. Petersburg, who filed his claim Tuesday, already has lost half of his right lung and his spleen and his immune system is compromised. He worked for American Beryllium from 1987 until 1990.

He and other workers have told the Bradenton Herald it was nearly impossible to escape the beryllium fumes and dust. The dust was so thick, the company salvaged much of it in collector bags and melted it back down into the valuable metal.

Claimants could receive lifetime medical care and compensation up to $150,000.

SANIBEL - City officials approved new rules allowing trappers to kill large alligators, even if they have not acted aggressively, after an alligator attack that killed a landscaper.

The City Council approved the nuisance alligator policy Tuesday, allowing the city to hire a trapper to kill an alligator that is more than 4 feet long if it makes people feel unsafe.

Previously, an alligator smaller than 8 feet had to behave aggressively or show signs of having been fed before it could be destroyed. The new policy took effect immediately.

Janie Melsek, 54, died from a severe infection July 23, two days after she was mauled by a 12-foot, 457-pound alligator. The alligator dragged her into a pond, tearing at her right arm so severely that part of it was later amputated. Rescuers pulled her from the reptile's jaws in what was described as a fierce tug-of-war.

She was the 14th person known to have been fatally attacked by a Florida alligator since record keeping began.

ORLANDO - A woman is suing her former employer, a telecommunications firm with Muslim workers and clients, claiming she was fired because she ate pork products in the company lunchroom.

Pork is unclean, according to Islamic beliefs, and Rising Star Telecommunications CEO Kujaatele Kweli said his company has a policy against openly eating or preparing the meat.

But the attorney for Lina Morales, an administrative assistant fired in March 2003, said the company admits there is no written policy against pork. And when Morales complained she was being disciplined for a policy of which she was unaware, she was fired for insubordination.

"If it's a religiously motivated policy that impinges on other people's rights, we're arguing that's de facto discrimination," attorney Travis Hollifield said Wednesday.

Rising Star hired Morales in 2002 and both sides agree she quickly became a quality employee. But Morales ran afoul of Rising Star's no-pork policy when she brought a pizza with meat into the lunchroom.

Kweli said Morales was warned she was violating a policy announced to employees during orientation. However, she then brought pork products into the building two more times. The last time, she heated bacon in a company microwave for a sandwich.

"I think she was trying to make a statement," Kweli said.

Bradenton Herald and wire reports