Oregonian
Ivan Higgs was working for Charter Construction , which contracted with Intel for welding and other services inside D1X, Intel’s main research factory.
The lawsuit alleges Higgs was exposed to chemicals used to service and clean equipment used inside the factory.
“After being exposed to the toxic materials and vapors plaintiff noted symptoms in his nose, lungs, and mouth that he describes as feeling like they were ‘on fire,’ the suit claims. Higgs said he completely lost his sense of smell and partially lost his sense of taste as a result of the exposure.
The suit, filed in Washington County Circuit Court , alleges Intel was negligent in not providing Higgs with protective gear. It says Intel should pay him $500,000 in noneconomic damages and nearly $50,000 more to cover his medical bills.
Willamette Week first noted the lawsuit. Intel declined to comment directly on pending litigation but in a statement said it is “committed to providing a safe workplace for our employees, contractors, customers, partners and the public.”
Intel is Oregon’s largest corporate employer, with more than 23,000 workers in Washington County . It makes its semiconductors inside a “cleanroom,” where workers wear white bunny suits to eliminate even microscopic contamination that could ruin the tiny features on the computer chips.
The manufacturing process itself, though, uses heavy equipment and hazardous chemicals to make the chips. Intel and other Northwest chipmakers have had periodic industrial accidents, inadvertent toxic emissions and misreported pollution.
Most seriously, an Intel contractor died in an Intel factory in 2017 when he was crushed inside a piece of manufacturing equipment. Oregon fined the contractor’s employer $17,400 and issued Intel a “hazard letter” for failing to notify workers of safety procedures when working with the equipment.
State regulators hit Intel with a $31,000 penalty last year for turning off a pollution-control device in Hillsboro for more than two months.
And just this month, Intel received a reprimand from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for dramatically underreporting greenhouse gas emissions from its Hillsboro factories.
— Mike Rogoway covers Oregon technology and the state economy. Reach him at mrogoway@oregonian.com or 503-294-7699.
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