A teacher who claims she was made seriously ill by mould at CedarBridge Academy is suing the Ministry of Education and the school's board of governors.Lawyers for Somerset mother-of-three and grandmother Wendy Robinson appeared before a judge on Friday in connection with her civil claim for damages for personal injury and negligence.Mrs Robinson was the first teacher to raise the alarm about the toxic environment at the Island's largest public school and has since spent thousands of dollars on expensive medical care.She told The Royal Gazette three years ago that despite having to retire on medical grounds because of her symptoms, she had not received a pension, nor any compensation for lost pay or help with healthcare bills.She flagged up her fears about mould to principal Kalmar Richards in September 2004 after suffering serious problems with her sinuses and collapsing at work.The school was closed for a clean-up in November 2006 and an inquiry led by expert Kamoji Wachiira later found that one student almost died and at least 13 others suffered sickness “very probably” caused by the environment.Mrs Robinson, who taught interior decorating, child development, food and nutrition and textile design, claims she is one of the unknown number of staff whom the Wachiira report found were affected by the mould.She saidin December 2007 she was still waiting to find out if she would get compensation from Government and was sick of having her letters to the Ministry of Education ignored.“After almost 20 years of teaching, I have been literally kicked to the kerb,” she said at the time. “I'm not the only one and you can print that.“I can name ten that have been severely injured from this. Everybody is afraid to talk to the press but I have nothing to lose. I was trying to do it the right way; I thought that they would do right by me.”During a hearing in chambers, Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley asked her attorney Victoria Pearman to explain why there were two defendants named in the case, since the school's board of governors accepted it was the statutory body responsible for the premises.He said: “As I understand it on the evidence, it is conceded that the Consolidated Fund [Government's main bank account] will ultimately meet any award that the plaintiff obtains.”Ms Pearman said a part of her client's claim also dealt with “renumeration arising out of her employment”.She added: “It's our contention that Mrs Robinson was in the employ of the Ministry of Education, never in the employ of CedarBridge.”Ms Pearman said her client worked for the Ministry from September 1, 1989, to August 31, 2008, with eight of those years spent at CedarBridge.She said it wasn't entirely clear which party was responsible for adhering to the requirement under the Education Act for schools to be suitable and safe.“I suppose, to put a point on it, we say in this realm there's enough responsibility and blame to go around. We don't think, in this case, that all the blame lies at the foot of CedarBridge.”She told the judge: “We can't forget that it was the Ministry of Education that actually closed the school in the face of this. Why did they close it?“When did they decide to close it? When did the knowledge that led them to close it come to their knowledge? We take the view that there is a report commissioned by the Ministry itself which is damning of the Ministry.”Mr Justice Kawaley suggested Mrs Robinson's statement of claim didn't make clear how to distinguish the liability of the two defendants.Ms Pearman said that was because her client was pleading her case with the information she had available at the time. “As we go on, new information is falling out of the trees,” she added.Martin Johnson, for the Ministry, said the main thrust of the pleading was that there was a problem with the school plant and equipment.He said CedarBridge was a maintained school and if it was unable to afford the costs of a settlement, the Ministry would fund the payment.Mr Justice Kawaley gave Ms Pearman leave to file another statement of claim within 21 days.l Useful websites: www.moed.bmOTHER TEACHERSWendy Robinson is not the only teacher to claim sickness caused by mould at CedarBridge Academy.Ulama Finn-Hendrickson, the first to take the Ministry of Education to court, won her legal battle in February 2008.A judicial review in Supreme Court heard she suffered headaches, sinus problems and fainting fits after working as a reading teacher at the Devonshire senior school.She claimed the indoor air quality was to blame and refused to go back to work at the premises, even after a $4 million clean-up, prompting the Ministry to stop her salary.Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley ruled she should have been told disciplinary action was being taken against her. The judgement meant Mrs Finn-Hendrickson won back pay of at least $90,000 and legal costs of more than $70,000.Other CedarBridge teachers to have publicly claimed they were made sick by the mould, which forced the school to close temporarily in November 2006, include Karen Clemons and Leonard Tucker.It is not known how much the Ministry of Education has had to spend so far in relation to legal claims arising from the crisis.