Asbestos Lawsuit History
Many asbestos victims have received assistance from lawyers such as Stanley Levy. Patients suffering from mesothelioma or other asbestos-related illnesses can sue companies that mined, manufactured, or used asbestos and asbestos-containing products.
The first asbestos lawsuit was filed by Nellie Kershaw. She suffered health issues while working in an asbestos attorneys fiber manufacturing plant in England. She died at the age of 33 of fibrosis of the lung caused by asbestos exposure.
The First Cases
Asbestos is a hazardous mineral that has afflicted or killed thousands of people over the years. Asbestos claims are filed for a variety of reasons, but the majority involve people who have been exposed to asbestos in their work. This includes those who worked in factories that produced asbestos-related products or on the construction site of buildings that contain asbestos. It can also be those who were exposed to asbestos through household products like talcum powder.
Exposure to asbestos can trigger many different illnesses which include mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory issues. Many people have received compensation for their injuries, even though some of these diseases are fatal. This is because many countries have laws that require companies who produce dangerous substances to warn people who might be hurt by them.
The first asbestos lawsuit that was filed in 1929 was filed by a woman with the name of Anna Pirskowski. She was suffering from breath shortness and a thickening of the fingertip tissue (known as clubbing). She was awarded a settlement of $75,000 in what is believed to be the first class action lawsuit that involved asbestos.
Asbest lawsuits continued to be filed throughout the years that followed. Some of the cases became quite large, and a lot of attorneys began to specialise in asbestos litigation. This meant that they only took on the most serious cases. One company that took on this was Kazan Law, which in the late 1980s started to concentrate on bringing cases on behalf of mesothelioma patients.
Other lawsuits have been won by people who suffered from asbestos-related ailments like asbestosis and pleural plaques. This is because the disease that caused these was very similar to mesothelioma and therefore easier for lawyers to prove. These claims led to the release of secret documents that revealed how asbestos product manufacturers tried to hide their risks. In 1989 the Asbestos Ban & Phase Out Rule was enacted.
The Second Cases
As the number of people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases grew, patients and their families began filing lawsuits against companies that mined, manufactured or sold asbestos-containing products. Mesothelioma victims also filed claims against companies who designed and constructed the buildings in which they worked such as shipyards, power plants, and refineries. The link between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma development is strong.
In the early 1980s, legal litigation over asbestos lawsuits grew more ferocious, and courts began to rule on a variety of aspects of case processes. For instance, a federal court ruled that only those suffering from malignant asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma or lung cancer are eligible to bring an action against the makers of asbestos-related products they used. This ruling, referred to as Borel V. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was a major setback in asbestos litigation.
The same time, Nellie Kershaw from Rochdale in England was the first to file what is now seen as the first well-known lawsuit filed against asbestos companies. Kershaw was an employee in a factory in Rochdale in England, was diagnosed with lung problems due to her exposure to raw asbestos fibers. She tried to get her employer to cover the cost of treatment. But, the company was unable to agree. Kershaw passed away in her 30s of fibrosis.
The second phase of asbestos lawsuits focused on those who were exposed to various kinds of asbestos-containing building materials, such as fireproofing sprays and drywall products. Asbestos lawyers also won cases against companies that made the equipment that made use of asbestos-containing products, such as boilers and pumps.
During this period, a variety of documents that were incriminating were found that demonstrated asbestos companies’ involvement in fraud and conspiracy. The documents included the personal files of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel of another asbestos manufacturer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents revealed the scheme of these companies to hide knowledge that asbestos was dangerous and to thwart efforts to inform the public about these dangers.
The discovery of these, and other forms of corporate fraud and conspiracy in the early and mid-1980s caused a surge of class action settlements as well as other attempts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos companies. These attempts were met by massive opposition from plaintiffs’ attorneys as well as their clients and the general public.
The Third Cases
By the 1970s, asbestos firms had lost the ability to conceal information about the deadly effects of mesothelioma and the other asbestos-related illnesses from the public. This was due in large part to the fact that major national publications began to pay attention to the connection between mesothelioma, asbestos, and other respiratory illnesses, as opposed to small industry newsletters and medical journals. After the links between asbestos and serious illnesses were established, victims began filing lawsuits against asbestos-related companies.
One of the primary push factors that led to increased asbestos lawsuits in the 1970s was a ruling by the courts that allowed plaintiffs to use the legal theory of strict liability. Plaintiffs in asbestos cases used to need to prove that asbestos producers were negligent in exposing them. However in the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard, a judge declared that asbestos producers were accountable for any injuries their products caused if the company knew that their product was unsafe and did not inform its employees or the public about the dangers.
After this ruling, many asbestos producers have filed for bankruptcy. This permits a business, even though it is still in operation, to reorganize itself in bankruptcy court and put funds into trusts to pay asbestos claimants. Johns-Manville is a notable case, since it was the subject of numerous lawsuits from former factory workers who were suffering from asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Kazan Law set several cases against the manufacturer and was able to win punitive damage verdicts against the company.
Since the time, asbestos litigation has continued to grow as a result of the rising number of victims suffering from asbestos-related illnesses. Asbestos cases are often complex due to the ailments they cause can take years to manifest themselves and are not always immediately apparent to those who are diagnosed.
Additionally certain victims have been forced to wait for years to receive compensation from insurance companies after their employers were found accountable. The US Supreme Court has addressed various cases where asbestos companies attempted to limit their liability by offering settlements in class action. The court has also discussed whether individual defendants could be held accountable for asbestos related injury.
The Fourth Cases
Asbestos is an incredibly hazardous mineral that has sickened or killed hundreds of thousands of people over the decades. It’s also a substance that was extensively used by companies that knew that it was dangerous and they continued to make use of it in their manufacturing processes.
The legal system is able to handle these asbestos lawsuits, there are always new developments. One of the most significant legal developments is a ruling known as Lubbe v. Cape Plc, which set a precedent that allows victims to sue multinational companies in their home jurisdictions for compensation.
These cases typically involve secondary asbestos exposure. This is when those who handle asbestos on the job pass it to their spouses or children at home. Family members suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
This type of case is the basis of many lawsuits filed by relatives of victims today. Asbestos lawyers can aid families file a claim against the company that is responsible for their loved ones’ asbestos injuries.
Another significant advancement in asbestos litigation is the rise of class action lawsuits. These asbestos lawsuits offer victims the opportunity to pursue justice with the assistance of an attorney well-versed in the complicated legal issues that these cases raise.
While many Asbestos attorneys, squareblogs.Net, have pushed for this type of litigation, there are those who are against it. In fact, there have been several attempts to pass legislation that would limit the use of class actions in asbestos cases.
The most recent major change in asbestos litigation was the filing of a suit by Massachusetts residents against four companies over the way they dealt with asbestos abatement and disposal. The lawsuit claimed that the firms did not follow state laws by not properly disposing of asbestos and exposing residents to toxic dust.
Asbestos litigation is a long-running problem that will likely persist for many decades to come. The asbestos industry has attempted to avoid responsibility through technical legal arguments and by trying to pass legislative solutions which would hinder victims from seeking justice. But, it appears that a lot of victims and their lawyers are determined to get justice.
