- MIAMI (Reuters) - A judge
has dismissed a lawsuit by South Florida mail workers seeking more protection
from anthrax, saying the U.S. Postal Service responded quickly and effectively
to their fears over an outbreak of the disease.
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- ``The record is devoid of any evidence that their fear
is based on an actual threat or that any postal worker in Florida has suffered
actual and imminent harm as a result of anthrax exposure,'' U.S. District
Judge Patricia Seitz wrote in a 12-page ruling received by Reuters on Saturday.
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- The civil lawsuit sought to force the Postal Service
into arbitration over safety issues resulting from the anthrax outbreak
after the Sept. 11 militant attacks on the United States that killed more
than 4,500 people.
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- The outbreak hit Florida, Washington, New York and New
Jersey, killing four people, including two postal workers at a mailing
facility in the nation's capital, and making at least 13 sick.
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- Although U.S. officials described the outbreak as a terrorist
action, they have not linked it to the network of Osama bin Laden, the
alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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- In the lawsuit, workers complained that the Postal Service
was slow to respond to the perceived anthrax threat to those handling the
mail.
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- The American Post Workers Union Miami local, representing
some 4,000 workers in greater Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, had
demanded increased testing of workers for the rare livestock disease, that
postal facilities be cleaned and tested, and more masks and gloves be provided
to workers.
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- Union officials also wanted three major postal facilities
in Miami and several in Boca Raton, 50 miles (80 km) to the north, shut
down until they could be tested and cleaned.
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- After five days of testimony, local Union President Judy
Johnson had reduced her demands to a request that window clerks be allowed
to wear masks while dealing with the public.
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- In her ruling issued Friday, Seitz said the Postal Service
had acted on the best advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and had made ``comprehensive, collaborative efforts'' with the national
union to address the threat.
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- The Postal Service said customers would get the wrong
impression if window clerks wore masks and Seitz said that decision seemed
appropriate.
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- ``The CDC has not recommended that window clerks wear
masks while serving customers,'' she ruled. ``The court has no authority
to dictate policy to the Postal Service or its employees.''
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- No postal workers in South Florida have tested positive
for exposure although spores have been found in six Palm Beach County postal
facilities.
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- The U.S. anthrax outbreak was first detected in Boca
Raton, where a worker at supermarket tabloid publisher American Media,
Inc., died of the disease on Oct. 5. The AMI headquarters building was
quarantined and authorities subsequently said they believe the anthrax
entered the building via the mail.
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