Asbestos Lawsuit History
Lawyers like Stanley Levy have helped many asbestos victims. Patients suffering from asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma can sue companies who mined asbestos, made or used asbestos.
Nellie Kershaw was the first to file an asbestos lawsuit. She worked in a factory that spun asbestos fibers in England and was diagnosed with health issues. She died at 33 due to fibrosis that had developed in her lungs, caused by asbestos exposure.
The First Cases
Asbestos is a hazardous mineral that has ill-treated or killed thousands of people over time. Asbestos claims are filed for a variety of reasons, but most often involve people who have been exposed to asbestos in their work. This includes those who worked in factories that manufactured asbestos-related products, or on the construction sites of buildings with asbestos. It can also be people who were exposed asbestos through household products like talcum powder.
Exposure to asbestos can cause various illnesses which include mesothelioma, lung cancer and other respiratory ailments. Although some of these diseases are extremely serious and could be fatal, many have been able receive compensation for their injuries. This is due to the fact that most countries have laws that require companies that create dangerous substances to inform people who might be injured by them.
The first asbestos lawsuit, filed in 1929, involved a woman by the name of Anna Pirskowski. She was suffering from a range of ailments, including shortness of breath and the thickening of the fingertip tissue, also known as clubbing. Peoria asbestos lawsuits was awarded an amount of $75,000 as a settlement and is believed to be the first class action lawsuit in connection with asbestos.
Asbest lawsuits continued to be filed in the years following. Asbestos litigation became a vast area of law and many attorneys started to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only would take on cases that were very important. One firm that did this was Kazan Law, which in the latter half of the 1980s began to focus on the bringing of cases on behalf of people who had mesothelioma.
Other lawsuits have been won by individuals who suffered from asbestos-related illnesses, such as asbestosis and plaques in the pleural region. This is because the disease that caused them was like mesothelioma making it easier for lawyers to prove. These claims led to the release of secret documents that showed how asbestos manufacturers tried to hide the risks they carry. In 1989 the Asbestos Ban & Phase Out Rule was issued.
The Second Case
As the number of people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases increased, victims and their families began bringing lawsuits against companies that mined, produced or sold asbestos-containing products. Mesothelioma patients also filed lawsuits against companies that designed and constructed the buildings where they worked, including power plants, shipyards and refineries. The connection between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma development is very strong.
In the early 1980s, the legal battle over asbestos lawsuits began to intensify and courts made rulings on a variety of aspects of the case process. For instance a federal court ruled that only individuals suffering from a malignant asbestos-caused disease like mesothelioma or lung cancer are able to file lawsuits against the producers of asbestos-related products they used. This ruling, known as Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp., was a major setback to asbestos lawsuit defendants.
Around the same time, Nellie Kershaw, a factory worker from Rochdale, England, filed what is considered the first well-known legal case against asbestos companies. Kershaw was diagnosed with lung problems due to her frequent contact with raw asbestos fibers, attempted to get the firm she worked for to cover her treatment. The company refused. Kershaw passed away at the age of 33 from fibrosis of her lungs.
The second wave of asbestos lawsuits centered on those who were exposed to various types asbestos-containing building products, such as fireproofing sprays, and drywall products. Asbestos lawyers also filed successful cases against companies that produced equipment that contained asbestos-containing material, such as boilers and pumps.
During this time, a number of documents that were incriminating were found that proved asbestos companies have been involved in a scheme of fraud and. These included the personal records of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel for another asbestos manufacturer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents revealed a shady alliance between these companies to hide the dangers of asbestos and to thwart efforts to warn the public.
The discovery of these and other types of corporate fraud and conspiracy in the early and mid-1980s led to a flurry of class action settlements and other efforts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos-related companies. These attempts were met with strong opposition from plaintiffs' attorneys as well as their clients and the general public.
The Third Case
By the 1970s asbestos companies were no longer able conceal the devastating effects of asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma from the public. This was largely due to the fact that the connection between asbestos and ailments like asbestosis, mesothelioma and other respiratory ailments began getting attention from major national publications instead of small medical journals or industry newsletters. Once the connection between asbestos and serious illnesses was established, patients began making lawsuits against asbestos producers.
In the 1970s, a court ruling that allowed plaintiffs the use of strict liability as a legal concept was one of the main reasons for an increase in asbestos lawsuits. Plaintiffs in asbestos cases used to need to prove that asbestos manufacturers were negligent in exposing them to. In the 1973 case Borel v. Fibreboard a judge ruled asbestos manufacturers liable for any injuries resulting from their products if they knew that their product was dangerous but did not warn their employees or the general public about its dangers.
Following this ruling, many asbestos producers have filed for bankruptcy, a procedure that allows a business to be reorganized in bankruptcy court, and put money in trusts to cover asbestos claims and still operate. Johns-Manville is a notable example. It was the victim of numerous lawsuits filed by former workers who suffered from asbestosis, mesothelioma, or lung cancer. Kazan Law brought several cases against the manufacturer and was able win the company punitive damages in a number of cases.
Asbestos litigation has increased since then because of the increasing number of asbestos-related diseases. Asbestos litigation is often complex because the diseases caused by asbestos can take years to manifest and are not always obvious to those who have been diagnosed.
In addition certain victims have been forced to wait for years to receive compensation from insurance companies after their employers were found to be accountable. The US Supreme Court has dealt with several cases involving class action settlements that asbestos companies offered as a way to limit their liability, and has also looked into the issue of whether it is possible to hold defendants accountable for asbestos-related injury.
The Fourth Cases
Asbestos is a highly hazardous mineral that has killed or sickened hundreds of thousands of people over the decades. Asbestos was also widely used by companies who knew it was dangerous however they continued to employ it.
As the legal system handles asbestos lawsuits and asbestos lawsuits, there are always new developments. One of the most important legal developments is the ruling Lubbe v. Cape Plc. This set the precedent for victims to sue multinational companies in their home countries for compensation.
These cases often involve secondary asbestos exposure. This occurs when employees who work with asbestos while on the job transfer it to their spouses or children living at home. Family members suffer from mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
There are many lawsuits filed today by the families of victims based on this kind of case. Asbestos lawyers can assist families file a claim against the responsible parties for the asbestos-related injuries suffered by their loved ones.
Another big development in asbestos litigation has been the rise of class action lawsuits. These asbestos lawsuits allow victims to seek justice with the aid of a lawyer familiar with the complex legal issues these cases raise.
Some asbestos attorneys are against this kind of litigation. In actual fact, there have been several attempts to pass legislation restricting the use of asbestos class actions.
The latest major advancement in asbestos litigation is the filing of a lawsuit by Massachusetts residents against four companies over their handling of asbestos removal and disposal. The lawsuit alleged the companies violated state laws by not disposing asbestos properly and failing residents from the harmful dust.
Asbestos litigation has been ongoing for decades and it's likely that it will continue to do so throughout the years to come. The asbestos industry has tried to shield itself from responsibility using technical legal arguments, and by trying to pass legislative solutions that would stop victims from seeking justice. It appears that a lot of victims, and their lawyers are determined to see justice done.