Bad odor causes Teleperformance evacuation

A mysterious odor that sickened some employees caused two evacuations Wednesday at the North Carson Street office of Teleperformance USA.

Rescue crews from the Carson City Fire Department used electronic meters to eliminate possible causes including carbon monoxide, natural gas or any other known poisonous or explosive vapors. But no cause was pinned down for a smell that caused nausea and headaches for a few workers.

"When I had people in the bathroom throwing up this morning, I got everybody out and called the building owner and the air conditioning guy," branch manager Susan Mercer said during the second evacuation Wednesday afternoon. "They didn't find anything. So when we had the same smell this afternoon, I got the fire department in here."

Employees said the odor resembled antifreeze or Freon, Mercer said.

About 30 employees stood outside the office in the 3700 block of North Carson Street during the second evacuation, waiting to return to work. Mercer said a few new employees in a training class had been sent home and job interviews were canceled because of the smell.