Judge Thomas W. Brothers ruled
in Circuit Court (Docket #04C2963) that John Primm of the
Metro Public Health Department breached his duties when he sprayed
citizen Emmett Clifford with the pesticide Anvil 2+2 while spraying a
Donelson neighborhood for mosquitoes on October 15, 2003. Judge Brothers
stated that the department had a practice of turning off the spray when
pedestrians or vehicles were visible near the truck during spraying and
that this was wise. He added that it is clearly foreseeable that people
would not want to be sprayed with a pesticide. John Primm was charged
with the duty to shut off the spray and therefore he was found to have
breached that duty and to be negligent in spraying Clifford with Anvil
2+2 twice.
Clifford testified that he was returning home when he spotted
the flashing yellow lights of a vehicle stopped on the side of the road.
By the time he realized that it was an insecticide spray truck, the fog
had entered his vehicle through his open window. Immediately, his eyes
and exposed skin began to burn and he gasped for breath. He was a couple
of hundred feet from his house, so he parked in front of his house and
jumped out. He stood in his front yard rubbing his eyes, coughing,
gagging and gasping for air. As he did this, the spraying truck made an
unexpected 180-degree turn and headed toward his home. Before he could
get inside to safety, the truck passed by and sprayed Clifford with
insecticide again.
Primm stated under oath that he had always turned off
the spray when pedestrians or vehicles were near and the manufacturer of
the pesticide suggested this practice during his annual trainings. The supervisor of the Pest Management Department,
Brent Hager, also testified that it was the department's practice to
turn off the spray when pedestrians or vehicles were near.
A citizen took the stand and said she had attended a meeting at the
Health Department in August, 2003. At this meeting, two Fisk Park
residents notified health officials that a Metro driver had failed to
shut off the spray when pedestrians were plainly visible on the
sidewalk. She stated that Hager had identified the driver as Primm in an
Open Records request.
She also had obtained documents from
the Health Department's files in 2004 showing that Hager was notified
about two separate incidents of pedestrian sprayings in a West Meade
neighborhood on October 9, 2003 - one week before Clifford was sprayed.
Hager identified Primm as the driver in one of those incidents. Photos
were also produced during the trial showing Primm's white Dodge Ram 4x4
with the spray on and a man in the front yard in a North Nashville
neighborhood in 2006.
Clifford was awarded costs for his emergency room
visits and court costs. Clifford's attorney Mary Leech stated that a
quirk in the law precluded Mr. Clifford's treating physician from
testifying about causation. Therefore, the Court was limited to the
testimony of the Health Department's toxicologist who testified that it
was impossible for Anvil 2+2 to cause any injury or adverse reaction
whatsoever despite the fact that the label clearly indicates that the
pesticide can cause injury. However, Primm testified that he wears a
face mask and gloves when he works close to Anvil 2+2. Medical proof of
causation is required to recover the damages Mr. Clifford suffered from
the spray.
Leech added that her client is considering whether he will
appeal the decision in order seek compensation for the injuries he
sustained. The manufacturer of Anvil 2+2 settled with Clifford out of
court.
One of the photos showing driver John Primm in a cul-de-sac off of Haynes Park Drive on June 15, 2006
violating the policy they USED to have to shut off the pesticide when people are present in their front yards. 
