NEW YORK — A New York handyman whose bosses skimped on safety gear had a ceiling full of rats collapse on him, only to get a hospital stay and termination for his trouble.<br /><br />According to a lawsuit obtained by the New York Post, Robert Petersen had been tasked with installing a new wall at a West 147th Street building. <br /><br />Since it involved dealing with rat droppings, he asked his boss for safety gear, but was shot down and told not to be a baby about it.<br /><br />The 45-year-old said his boss, Crystal Fernandez, made it sound like he'd get axed if he didn't do the work, so he did, even without the proper gear.<br /><br />Petersen claims he was cleaning rat droppings and urine on soaked pieces of insulation, and was surrounded by rodents — both dead and alive — while he was working.<br /><br />After 16 hours of working that filthy job, he was then called to repair a leaking hole in a ceiling — again without any gear on him.<br /><br />This time, the poor man had to stick his head in the hole and deal with all the rats running around his head.<br /><br />While pulling down a board from the ceiling, the whole thing collapsed on him, raining down rats, droppings, and all things nasty and disgusting.<br /><br />Peterson got itchy welts on his face and arms and began vomiting. He had to check into the hospital for a week, during which his lovely boss threatened to give him the boot.<br /><br />According to court documents, Petersen filed a complaint with OSHA over his filthy work conditions. He was fired 10 days after returning from work, but only told it was "not going to work out."<br /><br />The lawsuit alleges that the handyman's termination was in direct retaliation for his OSHA complaint.<br /><br />Here's hoping Peterson's crappy boss and company get what's coming to them.
