What Freud Can Teach Us About Asbestos Lawsuit History
Asbestos Lawsuit History
Lawyers like Stanley Levy have helped many asbestos victims. People with asbestos-related diseases, such as mesothelioma, can sue companies who mined or manufactured asbestos.
Nellie Kershaw filed her first asbestos lawsuit. She worked at a factory that spun asbestos fibers in England and developed health problems. She passed away at 33 due to fibrosis in her lungs, caused by asbestos exposure.
The First Cases
Asbestos is a dangerous mineral that has afflicted or killed thousands of people over time. Asbestos claims can be filed for various reasons, but they usually involve people who were exposed to asbestos at work. This includes employees who worked in factories that produced asbestos-related products, or on the construction sites of buildings containing asbestos. It can also be those who were exposed to asbestos by using household products, such as talcum powder.
Exposure to asbestos can cause various illnesses, including mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other respiratory problems. While some of these illnesses are extremely serious and could be fatal, a lot of people have been able receive compensation for their injuries. This is due to the fact that most countries have laws that require companies who create dangerous substances to warn those who may be injured 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 a range of ailments, including shortness of breath and the thickening of the fingertip tissue known as clubbing. She received a settlement worth $75,000 in what is believed to be a first-ever class action lawsuit that dealt with asbestos.
Asbest lawsuits continued to be filed throughout the years that followed. Some of the cases became extremely large, and a number of attorneys began to specialize in asbestos litigation. They only accepted cases that were very serious. Kazan Law was one firm that focused on this in the latter part of the 80s.
Other lawsuits have been won by those who suffered from asbestos-related diseases like asbestosis and plaques in the pleural cavity. This is because the disease that caused them was like mesothelioma making it more straightforward for lawyers to prove. These claims led to the release of secret documents that showed how asbestos manufacturers tried to conceal their risks. In 1989, the Asbestos Ban & Phase Out Rule was enacted.
The Second Case
As the number diagnosed with asbestos-related disease increased the number of victims and their families began filing lawsuits. These lawsuits were filed against businesses who mined asbestos, made asbestos-containing products, or sold asbestos-containing goods. Mesothelioma victims also filed claims against the companies that designed and constructed the buildings where they worked including shipyards, power plants, and refineries. The correlation between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma's development is strong.
In the early 1980s, the legal litigation over asbestos lawsuits grew more ferocious, and courts began to rule on many aspects of the case process. A federal court, for example determined that only people suffering from malignant asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma or lung cancer could bring a lawsuit against the makers of asbestos products. This ruling, also referred to as Borel V. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp. was a major setback in asbestos litigation.
Around 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 issues due to her exposure to raw asbestos fibers. She attempted to convince her employer to cover the cost of treatment. However, the company refused. Kershaw passed away at 33 years old of fibrosis of her lungs.
The second round of asbestos cases focused on workers who worked in construction sites and were exposed types of asbestos-containing building materials, including fireproofing sprays, textures and drywall products. Asbestos lawyers also prevailed in cases against companies that made the equipment that utilized asbestos-containing materials, such as boilers and pumps.
During this period, numerous documents pertaining to asbestos companies were uncovered. These documents proved their involvement in conspiracies and fraud. These included the personal records of Johns-Manville president Sumner Simpson, as well as correspondence from the general counsel of another asbestos producer, Raybestos Manhattan. These documents revealed a conspiracy between these companies to conceal 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 to mid-1980s sparked a wave of class action settlements and other attempts to limit asbestos liability for asbestos companies. These efforts were met with strong opposition from plaintiffs' attorneys as well as their clients and the general public.
The Third Cases
In the 1970s, asbestos companies could no longer cover up the dangers of asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma from people. This was due in large part to the fact that major national publications began paying attention to the link between asbestos, mesothelioma and other respiratory illnesses, as opposed to small industry newsletters and medical journals. Once the links between asbestos and serious illness were well established, victims began filing lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers.
In the 1970s, a court ruling that allowed plaintiffs the recourse to strict liability as a legal theory was one of the main reasons for an increase in asbestos lawyer lawsuits. Plaintiffs in asbestos lawsuits used to have to prove that asbestos producers were negligent for exposing them. However, in the 1973 case of Borel v. Fibreboard, a judge decided that asbestos manufacturers were liable for any injuries they caused in the event that the company knew their product was unsafe and did not warn its employees or the general public about its dangers.
Following this ruling, many asbestos-related companies filed for bankruptcy, a process which allows a company to reorganize in bankruptcy court, put funds aside in trusts to cover asbestos attorney claims, and then continue to operate. Johns-Manville was a particularly notable case, since it was the subject of numerous lawsuits from former workers who suffered from asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Kazan Law brought several cases against the manufacturer and was able win punitive damages verdicts against it.
Since the time asbestos litigation has continued to grow due to the increasing number of victims suffering from asbestos-related illnesses. Asbestos litigation can be complicated due to the fact that the ailments caused by asbestos can take a long time to manifest and are not always apparent to those who are diagnosed.
Additionally there have been cases where victims were forced to wait for years to receive compensation from insurance companies after their employers were found to be liable. The US Supreme Court has addressed several cases in which asbestos companies sought to limit their liability by offering class action settlements. It has also addressed the question of whether individual defendants can be held accountable for injuries resulting from asbestos.
The Fourth Cases
Asbestos is a highly dangerous mineral that has killed or sickened hundreds of thousands of people over the decades. Asbestos was also widely used by manufacturers who knew it was dangerous however they continued to make use of it.
As the legal system tackles these asbestos lawsuits and asbestos lawsuits, new developments take place all the time. One of the most significant legal developments is the decision Lubbe v Cape Plc. This set an example for asbestos victims to sue multinational corporations in their home countries for compensation.
These situations usually result in secondary exposure to asbestos. Workers who handle asbestos at work may pass it on to their families or spouses. The family members are affected by mesothelioma as well as other asbestos-related diseases.
There are many lawsuits filed today by the families of victims of this type of situation. Asbestos lawyers can aid families file a claim against the company that is responsible for their loved ones' asbestos-related injuries.
The emergence of class-action lawsuits is another major development in asbestos litigation. These asbestos lawsuits permit victims to pursue justice with the help of a lawyer experienced in the complicated legal issues these cases raise.
While many asbestos attorneys have advocated for this type of lawsuit, there are certain people who do not support it. In fact there have been a number of attempts to pass legislation restricting the use of class actions in asbestos cases.
The latest major development in asbestos litigation is the filing a suit by Massachusetts residents against 4 companies for handling asbestos removal and disposal. The lawsuit claimed that the companies violated the law of the state by not disposing of asbestos properly and failing to safeguard residents from toxic dust.
Asbestos litigation has been going on for decades, and it's likely that it will continue to be well into the future. The asbestos industry has tried to avoid responsibility through legal arguments that are technical and by trying to pass legislative remedies which would hinder victims from seeking justice. It appears that a lot of victims, and their lawyers, are determined to see justice acted upon.