Widow of Worker Sues Clark Foam Factory & Grubby Clark

The widow of a factory worker alleges in a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court that her 36-year-old husband died from long-term exposure to a deadly chemical at the world's largest manufacturer of surfboard blanks. 

The wrongful-death suit filed last week against Clark Foam Products provides a partial explanation for the Laguna Niguel company's abrupt closure in December. In legal papers, Maria Teresa Barriga claims that her husband, Martin Barriga, and other employees ran with open buckets of toxic toluene diisocyanate sloshing on their hands, arms, torso, legs and feet. 

During lunch breaks, Barriga and other workers warmed their meals in the same microwave used to heat the chemical, the suit alleges. Toluene diisocyanate, known as TDI, is commonly used to make foam products and paint. When heated, the chemical becomes toxic and can cause severe respiratory, gastrointestinal and central nervous system problems. It is also a possible carcinogen, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Barriga's death certificate lists cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, inflamed and scarred lung sacs and arterial inflammation...