Government

City Attorney Thinks She Got Fleas, Typhus From City Hall

Outbreak of rats and fleas inspires city council to take out the trash.

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(Image via Getty)

I mean, I don’t like cop lawyers any more than you do, but come on, they shouldn’t have to root around in the trash to find their desks. They shouldn’t need to wear Hazmat suits over their business suits. And we shouldn’t need to “fast track” legislation to pick up the trash.

Deputy city attorney for Los Angeles, Elizabeth Greenwood, believes she contracted typhus from flea bites in her city hall office. From the ABA Journal:

Deputy City Attorney Elizabeth Greenwood became severely ill a few weeks after seeing insect bites on her ankle. She has been on medical leave since November when she experienced the symptoms: high fever, severe headache and dizziness. Other symptoms include rash and fatigue.

Greenwood defends police officers in lawsuits. She went public with her disease to protect others at city hall who have not been warned of the health threat.

“If only my 15 minutes of fame were about something wonderful I did,” Greenwood told the Wall Street Journal. “But no. I’m now the international poster child for typhus.”

This is such a “breakdown of society” story. At the point where going to work, FOR THE GOVERNMENT, gives you fleas, the social compact must be null and void. We are living in a state of nature, and the rats are winning.

Typhoid Attorney has inspired the L.A. city council to take action:

Seeking to combat an infestation in Los Angeles City Hall of rats and fleas linked to typhus disease, the city’s personnel department announced an increase in cleaning and removal of trash from the Civic Center, hours before the city council approved a motion calling on city departments to develop and assess options such as removing all carpeting.

The motion introduced by Council President Herb Wesson on Wednesday was fast-tracked, bypassing the usual protocol of a committee hearing prior to being brought before the full council Friday…

There has been a “noticeable increase in the volume of rodents in the area and within city buildings,” stated the motion, citing a recent report by NBC4 that brought to light the typhus diagnosis of a deputy city attorney, Elizabeth Greenwood, who believes she was infected by flea bites at her workplace in the City Hall East building…

Plans to start “weekly comprehensive cleanups of the entire Civic Center area” were announced in the Personnel Department email

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“Plans”? You “plan” to start… WEEKLY TRASH CLEAN UP? What kind of dystopian filthscape are we living in where taking out the trash every week is a NEW PLAN?

Somebody get Charles Nicolle on the phone.

Lawyer thinks she contracted typhus from fleas at her city hall office [ABA Journal]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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