I am the daughter of a survivor! 83 yr old (currently) Florence E. Joachim (maiden-Lucy) (employed as-*Florence E. Hite) that suffers from Pulmonary Fibrosis, lifetime non-smoker, and worked at Burlington Industries in South Hill, Virginia during the mid to late 1960's. Back in 1968 she was diagnosed with byssinosis of the lungs 'browns disease" after being employed for over 3 years. A hospital physician had admitted her for nearly a week and advised her to not return to her textile job due to his findings and the severity of her condition. (Not knowing her rights and being uneducated because she was force to quit school to work the tobacco fields for her parents as a teenager instead of finishing school and being poverty stricken with 2 small mouths to feed she left the job and became a homemaker. My father became a full-time supporter of the family as a nighttime truck driver. She further went on to have 2 more children.) She was never made aware at any time by her employer that she had rights, and was actually not assisted in any form of disability by her employer. They were fully aware of the related health concerns of her department findings by their own testing results that were hidden that matched her health records, nor did they contact her regarding a class action lawsuit which would occur some few years later in another plant just a few hours away. But my mother's health would suffer with bronchitis and pneumonia every year nearly after this point. Fast forward 57 years. She was just recently diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis as a result of her ongoing damage to her lungs and is now on OFEV medication and IV Infusion Treatment (to prevent her Rheumatiod arthritis from attacking her lungs-with the infusions her lungs are not under constant attack) to only "slow the rate of her lung function decline"(without OFEV her lungs WILL FULLY COLLAPSE WITHIN 6 WEEKS)!  A simple cold, much less Covid or pneumonia can be a death sentence for her. The OFEV medication in NO WAY CURES her disease just slows the progress of the disease. During these visits the doctors were interested in learning how she received this condition. That is when I learned her story a few days ago. I was blown away and unbelievably upset and started my research on Burlington Industries. I used to be a paralegal for 8 years and know the intimidation of corporations to their employees and the responsibility they have for employees safety.

So J. Spencer Love's Legacy is full of Corporate Administrators, Safety Committee Administrators and Human Resources hiding the facts for high profit margins by falsifying records for the OSHA ACT that passed in 1970. Oh yes, so if OSHA was doing their job, they would have found these lung issues themselves. Are they too negligent. There is not one report against Burlington Industries listed although the lawsuits  exposed the cover-up. You should see the names attached to Burlington Industries on the corporate level.

I have researched Burlington Industries and found that during her time of employment Burlington Industries was aware of the massive amounts of lung issues and declining health problems in that department in their plants from their very own testing they did on their employees but chose to withhold.  Also, less than a few years after my mother's condition started employees in the Greensboro plant and the Alabama Plant filed and won their class action lawsuits. This is where those documented reports showed that Burlington Industries conducted studies prior to 1970 and intentionally withheld information from employees about illnesses regarding their declining lung and breathing function. They were also caught withholding additional help and intentionally assisted in denying the plausibility of such claims for workers comp through Liberty Mutual and for short term and long term disability. Due to this my mother is on a fixed income of SSI with Medicare only. She has to pay out of pocket for her supplemental insurance. Her Suplimental went up to nearly half of what she receives and has been paying insurance for for 14 years for and tried to talk her out of her treatment because it is too expensive for the company. Thankfully her Rheumatiod doctor, Dr. Paul Kazenstein and Lung doctor, Dr. Andrew Mihalek, at the Pulimonary Division UVA found a program that paid for her remaining portion of her medicine because her supplemental insurance would not cover it. Without it she would not make it 6 WEEKS.

 This is the state our elderly face today. 

Also, why did they wait until they were caught and exposed for hiding employees declining lung and medical results did they install $40 million dollars worth of ventilation in their then 20 textile plants?! Did they reach out to their previous employees? NO. My mother lived at the same address for 47 years. LOOPHOLES!!! Because of protection from law makers for 2 years of Statutory Limitations. Hardly enough time to know what is happening to your body. But my mother did know and she told them and they hid it. 

Now attorneys say Virginia protects them with a 2 year Statue of limitations period. (That is what I have been responded by from attorneys, even though you see all these ads on TV from these attorneys to want to represent these kind of cases. None say, "but there are statue of limitations").

Had Burlington Industries cared to contact their previous employees to let them know the truth about the exposure they were in she could have promptly made a claim . She was in the direct departments no less that were devastating and critical which were the Ribbon, Seatbelt and Cotton Room. They made her feel like she was wrong.

What makes my mother any different than these private or class action lawsuits other than being naive. They purposely left her out and hoped she would pass eventually without her story being told. Well now I know and you know. I want to expose this and I am on a mission to find more victims that were withheld their rights to make a claim. There was an individual case in North Carolina in 1982 Walston vs Burlington Industries which he was working back in 1962 .So they knew back then too. He had to appeal but he fought and won. What I have uncovered is people like my mother that said something back then but got ignored. Most conditions especially back then are misdiagnosed or not caught right away. It can be called as simple as asthma or bronchitis. Then years go by and boom you have a serious condition. By that time your statute of limitations have run out the door with your rights. Then you figure out where it came from. My mother was naive back then and just did as she was told and didn't ask a lot of questions of her employer. Burlington Industries had a duty to inform their employees new and old. They failed alot of loyal people. My mother never missed work except for her hospitalization for this lung issue. They were the one's knowledgeable, testing and hiding results.  They were found guilty and exposed during the court case of the class action lawsuits against them. It was reported in the Washington Post dated October 25, 1979 article written by Ed McConville titled, "Diseased Workers Sue Largest Textile Maker". 

We have to change this law so everyone who has been effected by textile companies can share their stories and be heard fairly in a court of law regardless of the the year of incident and a healthcare findings. How can you put a price and time limit on someone's right to breathe. We are not talking about owing a small claims debt or contract disagreement resolution . This decision currently resides with these other statutory laws. They are NOT one-in-the same. We are talking about long-term health issues that are irreversible and have no cure. Cancer has no cure and isn't detected in 2 years but if it's not caught in 2 years you can't go after the textile companies responsible. This has to change.

Thank you in advance for your help!