The City of San Diego knowingly endangered the health of more than 500 employees by exposing them to asbestos at its fire training academy, according to a class action lawsuit.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that at least 20 city workers have filed an asbestos class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs accuse the city of negligence for leasing a building it knew was contaminated with asbestos but required hundreds of its employees to work there anyway. 

In 2017, according to the asbestos class action lawsuit, when the city leased a downtown building to serve as its fire training academy, officials allegedly knew it contained asbestos and other toxic materials. But city officials required some 550 employees — firefighters and others — to work in the building, including when it was undergoing renovations, the suit continues. The city employees say they were exposed to asbestos. 

Asbestos is a material present in building materials, used because of its strength and heat resistance. Research indicates that asbestos is only dangerous when its long fibers are disturbed and breathed, as they are during construction or renovation to a building contaminated with asbestos. It has been linked to serious health problems including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis, according to WebMD.

Though the use of asbestos is now very restricted, it is still present in many older buildings. 

According to NBC San Diego, the building renovation disturbed the asbestos, causing it to infiltrate the air system, resulting in the employees breathing it. The plaintiffs allege say they experienced “a dramatic decline in air quality and widespread dust throughout their work areas.”

The class action suit accuses the City of San Diego of putting its employees’ health at risk because it did not want to incur the cost of breaking the lease. The city’s assistant chief operating officer allegedly tried to cover up the extent to which employees had been exposed to asbestos.

The Union-Tribune reports that city officials dismissed complaints made by Fire Department employees over their working conditions, which began in 2017. Only after the San Diego Air Pollution Control District discovered dangerous amounts of asbestos in the building did the city relocate the fire department employees, the lawsuit alleges.