Lawsuit: Loud, smelly factory bothers Belleville man
Matt KadoshA Belleville man is making some noise about unpleasant sounds and odors emanating from an industrial laundromat next to his home on Ralph Street.
Michael Schick, a 49-year-old information technology professional, has sued Cintas Corp., the parent company of G&K Services, which owns the facility next to his home.
“The smell is like a turpentine or paint thinner smell,” said Schick, standing on the deck of his home on Friday, Aug. 25.
The odor spreads over to his deck to the point that “You can’t even go outside,” he said.
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Schick said he hears forklifts loading trucks as early as 7 a.m. “You’ll hear like a rolling thunder,” he maintained.
But it doesn’t end there. Each day, between 30 and 40 trucks back into the docks, creating metallic noises as they do so, he said.
“They drop their metal tailgate onto the metal concrete and then there’s a second bang once the extension of the tailgate goes under the concrete,” Schick said. “That’ll go [on] all the way from 8 o’clock,” until 2 a.m., he said.
In the complaint filed in Superior Court in Newark on Aug. 18, Schick maintains he was not aware of the noise or odor issues when he moved into the property in 2015.
He claims in the suit that the loading and unloading of trucks causes a “booming sound,” that disrupts his sleep and makes it difficult for him to perform daytime activities, including work.
He further claims that “strong solvent-type odors” regularly emanate from the facility, ones which G&K Services has been cited for twice by the Essex Regional Health Commission. Schick said these emissions have exacerbated his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“I have trouble breathing alone, let alone when inhaling paint thinner,” noted Schick during an interview at his home on Friday, Aug. 25.
He claims this has prevented him from using the backyard and back deck of his home, from which he showed this reporter how noises from the trucks disrupt his life.
Schick's lawsuit requests G&K Services to immediately stop the noise and odors, and asks the judge to award compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
Schick further claims trespass as a result of the noises and odors, and violations of the New Jersey Environmental Rights Act and the Air Pollution Control Act.
“The man can’t sleep in his bedroom,” said Brittany Debord, an attorney with Lieberman & Blecher PC, the firm representing Schick. “He can’t have people over because of these odors.”
While Schick has met with G&K Services numerous time in attempts to solve the conflict, Debord said, the company declined to send a lawyer to meet with Schick and his attorneys.
“The last we heard is that they didn’t want to foot the bill for the attorneys to talk,” she said. “They only wanted to speak with my client while he was unrepresented.”
G&K Services and its parent company, Cintas, did not return messages from NorthJersey.com seeking comment on the complaint last Friday and on Monday morning, Aug. 28.
Starting Monday, Aug. 28, the Essex County Health Department could fine G&K Services up to $10,000 a day if the violations continue, according to Debord.
Schick told NorthJersey.com he has reported the incidents to the Belleville Police Department and provided a copy of a police report dated July 12, which states that he told police the noises have been a problem for about 2 years.
Before taking the case to court, Schick said, he contacted local authorities, but they were unable to help him.
“I’ve talked to my councilman, and I’ve talked to the police,” he said. “I’ve talked with the Belleville Health Department. There is nobody who has been able to help me with this. I had to file this lawsuit.”
Email: kadosh@northjersey.com
On the web
Watch a video of Michael Schick and hear, see some of what he experiences each day. Visit njersy.co/gkfactorysuit