FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A jury has awarded $100,000 to a woman who claims she lost her job after she refused to falsify blood test results on children exposed to lead-contaminated water in Flint, her attorney said in Tuesday.
April Cook-Hawkins worked at the Genesee County Health Department for about four to five months before she was forced to leave in 2016, said her attorney, Carol Loughbaum.
The department said Cook-Hawkins was fired because of her performance, but a jury rejected that reason last Friday and awarded her $100,000 for emotional distress, Loughbaum said.
“They (from the health department) said she was not a team player. Virtually nothing in the trial showed that she was not a team player,” the lawyer said.
Carlos Osorio via Associated Press
Cook-Hawkins told jurors she was directed to record lead-level results she knew were inaccurate.
“The county had two sets of records: blue sheets with actual test data and corrected versions, white sheets with handwritten corrections showing perfect lead levels,” Loughbaum said.
Michael Edmonds, an attorney who represented then-Nursing Director Tony LaRocco, said he was disappointed with the outcome of the trial.
“I am currently in the process of advising the county on its options,” he said.
The city’s majority-black residents were exposed to lead when the city drew water from the Flint River in 2014-15 without treating it to reduce corrosive effects on old pipes. The city switched back to a regional water supplier in the fall of 2015.
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