MARSHFIELD, Vt.—LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire
The Alaska Supreme Court upheld the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board decision awarding an AT&T equipment installer 100% disability due to his exposure to radiofrequency radiation (RF) at an antenna worksite. The award is based on psychological and cognitive effects of RF over-exposure. This decision is significant because the FCC RF limit protects against heating and ignores other adverse biological effects from RF radiation exposure.
AT&T’s expert contended that the RF exposure level in question was well below FCC’s recognized level of “thermal” harm. FCC holds there are no scientifically established harmful health effects below the thermal threshold. The Board decision concurs with medical experts who found that the worker suffered debilitating psychological effects from RF exposure rather than physical harm such as burning. This decision could hold significant financial impact for the wireless industry going forward.
The Court found:
Because substantial evidence supports the board’s findings and because the board’s procedural decisions did not deprive AT&T of due process, we affirm the superior court’s judgment that affirmed the board’s ruling.
This decision opens the door for disability claims from millions of wireless industry or maintenance workers who experience occupational exposures to operating antenna arrays and have suffered similar cognitive and neurological symptoms. The FCC requires no on-site radiation measurements to document RF safety compliance. According to The EMR Policy Institute, millions of workers labor daily at worksites that host camouflaged operating antenna arrays where no RF safety program is carried out. As a result, these workers have no way of knowing whether they are exposed to RF radiation, what the level of their RF radiation exposure is, nor how to take measures to avoid harm from RF radiation exposure.
More background: www.emrpolicy.org/news/press/20aug07_orchitt.pdf
Complete text of OPINION No. 6139 – July 6, 2007 is found at: www.emrpolicy.org/litigation/case_law/index.htm
