The husband of a California teacher who died in 2024 is suing a Southern California-based contractor for wrongful death, alleging that construction of a high school pool led to her death. 

Earlier this month, Los Osos resident Edwin Van Fleet, whose wife, Judith Van Fleet, died in 2024, filed a lawsuit against Nadar Inc., an Altadena-based contracting and engineering firm. Nadar does large-scale pool builds, primarily for high schools and colleges and aquatic centers throughout the state.

San Luis Coastal Unified School District contracted the construction firm to build a pool at Morro Bay High School, starting in the summer of 2016. 

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“During the 2016-2017 school year, decedent Judith Van Fleet was a math teacher at MBHS,” the lawsuit, filed Aug. 11 in SLO County Superior Court states. During that time, construction began on a new swimming pool at the school, “with the excavation site located immediately adjacent to decedent’s classroom,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the construction firm is to blame for Van Fleet’s death, noting that exposure to the construction activity led to a downturn in her health and ultimately her death.

A view of the pool at Morro Bay High School in Morro Bay, Calif. 

“As........

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