Meet Zachary Ruffing, the 15-year-old kid with Hallermann-Streiff syndrome who is suing IBM Corp. because of his birth defects.
He, and his parents appeared on NBC’s Today show to talk about the case and the settlement a judge is expected to sign off on out of court. That same judge must also rule on 200 similar lawsuits, some of which were filed by other IBM employees who either worked at the East Fishkill, NY, or Essex Junction, Vt., facilities.
Zachary’s parents, Fay Calton and Mike Ruffing, told Today that they believe the chemicals they were exposed to while working in East Fishkill’s cleanrooms, namely chip coatings like glycol ethers, xylene and enambuterol acetate, caused Zachary’s abnormalities.
“In a cleanroom, you use the same air over and over and over again,” says Mike Ruffing. “It recirculates, so it?s not like fresh air is bought in to make it less toxic. It’s there, and as you dump more chemicals in the air, it just gets worse and worse and worse.”
In a prepared statement, IBM says it does not believe any of the lawsuits have any merit. “There is no scientific evidence linking these health issues to our cleanrooms or other work environments. We intend to defend our company vigorously,” says Laura Wessner, IBM’s manager of broadcast media relations. “We have no comment on our litigation plans for future cases. Our decision to settle the Ruffing case has no bearing on future decision regarding any other cases.”
The report from Today also indicated that Zachary’s condition has never been linked to chemical exposure or any other cause. Animal studies, however, have shown a link between glycol ethers and head and facial deformities.
In 1983, two years before Zachary was born, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), warned computer companies that glycol ethers could “be regarded as having the potential to cause adverse reproductive effects in male and female workers.”
NIOSH urged employers to “give this information to their workers,” but Calton says IBM never warned her, a charge IBM fervently denies.
The Ruffings are not the only ones suing IBM. In fact, 48 current and former employees have pending lawsuits against the company, citing their children’s birth defects were caused by IBM’s negligence.
Today noted that IBM’s lawyers declined to speak on camera, but said that although they feel compassion for workers and their children, the scientific evidence does not support employee claims.
Ron Murray Sr., who worked at IBM for 27 years, says he was exposed to the same chemicals as Calton and Mike Ruffing. The first two children Murray and his wife had died as newborns. Edwina, he said, was born with 40 broken bones and had a rare bone disease. She died at 10 months, while a second daughter, Catherine, died as soon as they brought her out of an incubator. Catherine was 3-days-old. An autopsy revealed that what appeared to be two lungs was actually one lung and a giant tumor.
Murray and his wife eventually had two children, and both have health problems. Their 32-year-old son has testicular cancer, while a daughter, 29, has an undiagnosed illness that causes her chronic pain.
Others, who requested anonymity from Today, are also coping with health problems that they hold IBM accountable for.
One man said he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, while another said his wife has cervical cancer.
IBM did stop using glycol ethers, and sought alternatives in the 1980s and fazed them out completely in 1995, 10 years after government warnings.
For people like Zachary Ruffing, it was 10 years too late. “The still should have told people, because they should value people over profit” he says.
Mark A. DeSorbo