Postal anthrax survivor files $100 million lawsuit

Leroy Richmond, an employee at the Brentwood Road postal facility in Washington who survived an anthrax infection caused by the 2001 attacks, filed a $100 million civil lawsuit yesterday against three Postal Service officials for failing to quickly close the facility after anthrax spores were found.

The lawsuit claims that Postmaster General John Potter, as well as Brentwood's plant manager and the Washington postmaster, acted in "deliberate indifference" to Richmond's safety by failing to take appropriate safety precautions after the anthrax attacks, according to The Washington Post.

"This is about finding some justice and closure in this case," Richmond said yesterday.

The officials' actions also violated Richmond's rights to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says. While congressional staff members received prompt attention after an anthrax-tainted letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., was opened, Brentwood employees, who are predominately black, were considered "expendable" and the facility remained open, according to the lawsuit.

The Postal Service refused to comment on the lawsuit, saying it had not yet received it, the Post reported. "Our first consideration has always been our employees' safety and health," said postal spokeswoman Deborah Yackley.