Parents of an unnamed 12-year-old student at the Fay School, Southborough, Mass., have claimed in a Jan. 19, 2016 Federal lawsuit that the school’s strong Wi-Fi signals caused their son physical harm. They seek $250,000 in damages.
The school has ignored measurements, other data, and medical and other reports supporting the need to make an accommodation, according to the complaint which was filed anonymously to protect the minor child, called “G.”
The suit was filed with the Worcester division of the U.S. District Court for Mass. by John J.E. Markham II of Markham & Read, Boston. Counsel for the school is Schwartz Hannum, Andover.
Fay said it complies with federal and state guidelines for exposure to ambient radio frequency energy (RFE) and that measurements by Isotrope, LLC, completed in January 2015, confirm that.
Study Found Legal Emissions
Isotrope found that RFE emissions on the site were substantially below the applicable federal limits “by a wide margin,” said a statement Aug. 25, 2015 by school head Rob Gustavson.
They were “substantially less than one ten-thousandth of the applicable safety limits (federal and state),” he said.
The suit says that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Fay should be working towards a “reasonable accommodation” to the EHS of “G.”
It says G’s parents have offered to work with the school, even at their own expense, to examine the classroom Wi-Fi system and to attempt installation of a reasonable alternative to their “industrial capacity Wi-Fi” for when G is in the classroom.
The parents say Fay has refused to do anything meaningful and has retaliated by barring G from the campus for any reason even for activities that do not expose him to Wi-Fi.
This includes sports which G “loves, and which allowed social time he missed with his peers.” Fay has also blocked any contact between parents and teachers on lessons being taught and is not allowing recording of class lessons or Skyping of classes at parents’ expense, the complaint says.
G was experiencing and describing symptoms of EHS before he knew that Wi-Fi could be the cause, the action says.
“Data collected and analyzed showed ‘startling connection’ that his symptoms coincided with Wi-Fi exposure peaks.
The mother of G provided research papers and news stories on EHS for those interested in the subject.
Tuition at the co-ed school starts at $13,500 for pre-kindergarten (half-day) and ranges up to $38,290 for grade nine. Tuition/board in grades 7-8 is $61,660 yearly.
Westhampton Library Cites Fed Rules
The Westhampton, N.Y., library, which is also under pressure from residents to limit exposure of patrons to elecrtromagnetic radiation from Wi-Fi and computers, has noted that it complies with federal guidelines. It has refused to make any changes in its current Wi-Fi setup.
Residents in Fullerton and Berkeley Calif., Montgomery County, Md., and Ashland, Mass., are pressuring schools and libraries to limit or eliminate use of Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi health advocates list 28 medical groups, schools, libraries and government bodies that are fighting the spread of microwave radiation which they consider dangerous, particularly to children.
Brain tumours are now the most frequent form of cancer in U.S. adolescents, according to a 2008-2012 study. It is being publicized by Prevent Cancer Now, a Canadian national civil group.
The Interdisciplinary Society for Environmental Medicine, 3,000 physicians in Germany, urges banning cellphone use by children and banning cellphones and cordless phones in preschools, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, event halls, public buildings and vehicles.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health says the Federal Communications Commission’s standard is inadequate because it “is based on only one dominant mechanism—adverse health effects caused by body heating.” FCC also “does not address the issue of long-term, chronic exposure to RF fields.”
The International Commission on Electromagnetic Safety, representing scientists in 16 nations, urges limiting cell phone use by children, teenagers, pregnant women and the elderly.
National Library of France, Paris, in 2008 rejected a Wi-Fi proposal and installed wired connections throughout its facility. http://tinyurl.com/htpxhbzIt is the largest library in France. Health considerations were cited.
Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection warns that cellphones are unsafe even for short conversations. It says children under 16, pregnant women, epileptics, and people with memory loss, sleep disorders and neurological diseases should never use cell phones.
WHB Is Last Holdout vs. Eruv
The March 7 decision of Quogue, N.Y., to allow markers on 48 utility poles that denote an Orthodox Jewish community leaves Westhampton Beach as the only Hampton town still resisting such a designation.
Rob Rubio and Brian Tymann were elected to the WHB board last June on a platform that rejected signing any agreement that would allow such a boundary.
Yehuda Buchweitz, partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, the pro bono legal counsel of the East End Eruv Assn., which is pursuing lawsuits seeking to establish eruvim, told the March 10 Southampton Press that the litigation with WHV is continuing and that there have been no advancements since last year.
He said Quogue was making the “right move” in agreeing to the eruv because to do otherwise could cost the town “millions of dollars in legal fees.”
WHB trustees were told Sept. 3 by outside legal counsel Brian Sokoloff that the village faces more than $1 million in legal fees and penalties should it lose its action with the EEEA.
Debt-Laden CSC Paid Execs of Debt-free MSG
Executives of Cablevision Systems Corp., which may be sold to Altice for $17.7 billion, also worked for Madison Square Garden Co. which was spun off from CSC in 2010.
MSG has no debt while CSC’s net debt is $7.43 billion, giving CSC $5.04B negative net equity. CSC revenues are $6.51B while MSG’s are $1.56B.
Altice says that if it is allowed to buy CSC it will cut what appears to be executive costs. It told a security analyst meeting that more than 300 executives of CSC earn more than $300K each. Initial target is to cut $900M in costs.
Key executive pay of CSC execs in 2014 included $23,702,403 for James Dolan, CEO. He was also paid $3.09M in the same year as executive chairman of MSG Co. His father, Charles Dolan, chairman of CSC, was paid $15,347,097 in 2014. Pay of $14,032,940 went to Gregg Selbert, vice chairman; $7,009,589 for Brian Sweeney, president and CFO, and $7,391,705 for Kristin Dolan, COO, daughter of Charles Dolan.
Five other Dolan children and three other relatives were on the Cablevision payroll in 2010, reported footnoted.com which examined Securities & Exchange Commission filings.
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
Five ways that successful thought leaders are made.
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