Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog

March 16, 2017

Court: School Board Can Be Liable for Teacher’s Mesothelioma

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (one of two intermediate appellate courts in the state) recently ruled that a school board can be potentially liable for the mesothelioma suffered by a math teacher who was allegedly exposed to the toxic fibers at the school.

According to court records in the case, the subject of the underlying matter worked as a high school math teacher who worked at the district from 1958 to 1959 – basically one full school year. During this time, she was exposed to asbestos dust coming from pipe coverings on the steam and water pipes that were in the hallways, stairs and classrooms of the school.

More than five decades past when the teacher, long since retired, was diagnosed with mesothelioma. She and her husband filed a personal injury lawsuit against the school district and 40 other defendants, including those responsible for making, distributing, selling, supplying, installing and removing asbestos products. Plaintiff alleged it was her occupational exposure to the dust, caused by defendants’ acts and/ or omissions, that resulted in her injuries. Her husband also claimed loss of consortium. Continue reading

March 13, 2017

New Asbestos Illness Claims Protections for Ohio Firefighters

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The governor of Ohio has just signed a measure into law that will grant firefighters in that state the right to file a workers’ compensation claim if they are diagnosed with cancer – including mesothelioma. The measure creates a rebutable presumption that when a fire department employee is diagnosed with cancer, it stemmed from an on-the-job activity. That means it will be up to the employer to refute that presumption with solid evidence if it wants to deny the claim.

The change in state law was introduced last year, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and will simplify the process for firefighters seeking to recover their pension and workers’ compensation benefits if they receive a cancer diagnosis.

The bill was by no means a shoe-in. The bill, S.B. 27, passed only after the fourth time it was introduced for consideration by state lawmakers. The bill is named after a fire department captain in Northeast Ohio who developed brain cancer in two years ago, and had to struggle to obtain workers’ compensation benefits. Continue reading

March 10, 2017

BorgWarner Announces $411M Set Aside for Future Asbestos Exposure Settlements

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

BorgWarner Inc., a Michigan-based company that supplies turborcharger and emissions systems to the auto industry, recently reported a one-time charge of $411 million, which it is setting aside for future asbestos exposure liability claims.

That’s according to Crain’s Detroit Business, which reports the charge resulted in a net loss in the company’s fourth quarter of $293 million.

Now of course, this might sound like a lot, but consider that the company’s revenue during that quarter rose by more than 6 percent to $2.3 billion, from $2.1 billion just a year earlier. A big part of that was owing to a 20 percent increase in drivetrain division sales. Net revenue for the year is up to $9.1 billion. When you consider this, that $411 million seems far less substantial, especially when noting how many thousands of asbestos injury claims are likely to arise in the coming years. The supplier figured the $411 million by calculating its estimated costs for indemnity and defense of pending and future asbestos-related claims, which could stretch into the next five decades. Continue reading

March 7, 2017

Appellate Court Accepts Government Contractor Defense in Asbestos Liability Lawsuit, Breaking With Ninth Circuit

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

The government contractor defense was accepted in a recent asbestos liability lawsuits out of California. The decision by a state appellate court breaks with a ruling by the federal Ninth Circuit.

The government contractor defense shields the federal government’s exercise of discretion and judgment in contract specifications and designs. It can be raised by government contractor defendants in certain product liability lawsuits, such as those pertaining to asbestos exposure. It’s often used by companies that provide products that have some type of military application, though matters can get complicated when the product in question is sold to both the government and the general public.

The California case involves a man who was exposed to asbestos insulation while working on nuclear submarines in the early 1970s. The insulation product was called Unibestos, and it’s been available for decades. In 1936, the U.S. Navy started using the product in its vessels because of its high resistance to heat. Although ads for the product indicated it was “available everywhere,” there is no evidence as to how much of the product was sold commercially. Continue reading

March 5, 2017

New Asbestos Law and Changes Ahead

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Toward the end of the Obama administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added asbestos to a list of dangerous or hazardous chemicals. The significance of this new law was the EPA would be able to allocate more money toward the prevention of asbestos-related illnesses, such as malignant mesothelioma.

While asbestos is not used anywhere as near is much as it once was, it still poses a significant danger, and the number of asbestos cases are actually going up each year, according to recent statistics. As it stands now, there are thousands of deaths from mesothelioma each year in the U.S. alone. Continue reading

March 3, 2017

Asbestos Discovered at War Memorial

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from The Garden Island, inspectors have discovered a large amount of asbestos at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall. Hawaii is very important in terms of America’s involvement in the Second World War. This of course was the site of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which caused the United States to enter the war in the Pacific Theater of Operations. As a result, there are many war monuments and museums on the Hawaiian Islands.

One of these war memorials is located in Kauai and there is a large convection hall attached to the monument as well, which is frequented by both locals and businesses that host events on the property. According to reports, one of the caretakers of the facility first became concerned that there was asbestos in the flooring tiles and that its presence could be dangerous to those who frequent the building. Continue reading

February 28, 2017

Attorney General Alleges Contractor Falsified Asbestos Records

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

When asbestos was first installed in the countless buildings in the United States it was very dangerous to the workers who were at the mines unearthing the material. It was also very dangerous to the workers who were employed at the factories processing the material into construction products. Then it was transported to millions of job sites across the country, where it was dangerous to the workers who were on the job.

As if this was not bad enough, it was dangerous to the families of the workers. When a worker came home at the end of the day still covered in the deadly asbestos fibers, they posed a significant risk to the spouses and children of these workers who would hug them at the end of the day and lived in the same home. Continue reading

February 25, 2017

Renovation Efforts and Asbestos Abatement at Boston’s Colonial Theater

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

For many, New York City’s Broadway is the gold standard of musicals and famous theaters. However, Boston has quite a few historic theaters located in the theater district and throughout the downtown area. One of the most famous is the Colonial Theater, built 117 years ago. At it turns out, many of the more famous shows, such as “Porgy and Bess” and “Oklahoma,” were first presented at this theater in Boston before debuting on Broadway.

This famous theater was designed with many classic and beautiful features, but it was also built at a time when asbestos was used in virtually every aspect of the construction process. Over the years, the theater began to fall apart and was literally crumbling into dust. Since much of this dust contained deadly asbestos fibers, this became a major problem, and there was much talk about the theater closing down forever, according to a recent article from The New York Times. Continue reading

February 22, 2017

Childhood Exposure to Asbestos and Related Issues

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Malignant mesothelioma is the most well-known disease associated with exposure to deadly asbestos fibers. However, it is not the only disease caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. There is also a disease known as asbestosis that is not talked about as much, but many people are still aware of its existence.

As discussed in a recent article in The Western News, one of the more common diseases caused by exposure to asbestos is known as pleural thickening. Pleural refers to the human lungs. As the asbestos fibers are inhaled, they can become trapped in the lungs, and the body has three distinct responses that are not technically associated with mesothelioma.
Continue reading

February 19, 2017

Montana Settles Asbestos Claims for $25M

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While most people in the United States are now aware of the dangers of asbestos, many do not really know what it is or where it came from. First of all, asbestos in a pure form is not a man- made substance. It is actually considered a naturally occurring mineral that is comprised of six distinct silica elements. There are various different types of asbestos, but their differences primarily involve the different minerals and other elements that are attached to the asbestos.

It has been used for thousands of years, as it has a natural ability to resist heat, fire, caustic chemicals and electricity. However, it wasn’t until the mid 1850s that asbestos-laden products were being produced in vast quantities. With the need for all that raw asbestos came the need for major mining operations, and that need was filled by a firm called W.R. Grace and Co. This was technically called a vermiculite mine, but, in reality, vermiculite was laden with asbestos at that time, even though the company said it was a safe alternative to asbestos when they knew it wasn’t. Continue reading