Workers Exposed To ‘Trash & Bodily Fluids’ At L.A. City Hall Building, Citations Issued In Response To Typhus Case

By Jeffrey Cawood

L.A. Deputy City Attorney says she contracted the flea-borne disease at her office.

California’s occupational safety and health agency found that workers at a Los Angeles City Hall building “were exposed to unsanitary conditions from trash and bodily fluids,” issuing multiple citations for failing to keep the structure’s passageways and exteriors clean.

State inspectors responded to a complaint submitted by Deputy City Atty. Elizabeth Greenwood. She said she contracted flea-borne typhus last year while working at City Hall East, an 18-story high-rise that sits across the street from L.A.’s iconic City Hall. The City Attorney’s Office, along with several other municipal agencies, is located inside the facility.

Greenwood, who is still recovering, filed a $5-million claim against the city in March. She accuses Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti and other elected officials of recklessly endangering the public by allowing human feces and garbage to accumulate outside of her workplace, luring rats that carried typhus-infected fleas to the property.

“The people that live and do business in the city of Los Angeles expect the city of Los Angeles to not casually allow them to catch a medieval disease as they walk into City Hall,” said Greenwood in a recent interview with CBS2/KCAL9 News.

Typhus, which is seldom fatal, usually reaches humans by flea bites or flea feces. It cannot be passed person to person, according to public health officials.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health, also known as Cal/OSHA, determined that the city did not provide adequate cleaning services for City Hall East’s entrances and walkways outside. According to the Los Angeles Times, homeless people often sleep in those spaces overnight. The Times went on to report that Cal/OSHA issued one citation to the City Attorney’s Office and another to the General Services Department, which oversees the maintenance of city buildings. The combined fines amounted to nearly $2,000. Both violations will be appealed.

“Our office clearly has no role in maintaining the building’s exterior grounds,” said a spokesperson for the City Attorney.