Legal retribution for failure to properly protect employees and other persons from the dangers of asbestos inhalation is becoming more and more commonplace. Asbestos issues are claiming more of the public’s eye both in the United States and abroad for good reason. As diagnoses of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure, continue to rise, further evidences of employer’s negligent behaviors will likely be brought to light through legal claims against the perpetrators.
One such lawsuit was recently filed against Chevron USA, accusing the huge oil company of negligently exposing Billy Cunningham, an employee of Chevron, to asbestos fibers that caused him to develop the cancer that eventually killed him. The lawsuit was filed by Betty Lou, Billy Cunningham’s widow, through Provost Umphrey attorney Keith Hyde in the Jefferson County District Court just a week ago on November 20th.
The suit accuses Chevron USA of allowing its employees, including Billy Cunningham, to work with asbestos without proper protection while knowing that asbestos, its fibers, and any asbestos containing products could cause asbestosis as well as other fatal cancers.
The lawsuit claimed that:
“During Cunningham’s employment with Gulf Oil, he used and was exposed to toxic materials including asbestos dust and/or fibers. As a result of such exposure, he developed an asbestos-related disease, mesothelioma, for which he died a painful and terrible death on Feb. 11, 2009. The defendant acted with malice…and gross neglect for exposing Cunningham to asbestos.The defendant failed to timely and adequately warn workers of the dangers of asbestos…and failed to take the necessary engineering, safety, industrial hygiene and other precautions and provide adequate warning and training to ensure that the deceased was not exposed to the asbestos-containing products.”
Complaints against large, industrial employers are likely to continue to rise. The fact is that the dangers of asbestos have been known for the better half of a century. The Journal of the American Medical Association mentions asbestosis, a cancer caused by asbestos, as early as 1928, and by 1933 a British report noted the scarring of the lungs due to asbestos and stated “with continued exposure to high concentrations of dust, the fibrosis may be fully developed in 7 to 9 years, and may cause death after about 13 years exposure, exceptionally in a shorter period.”
The first asbestos related litigation took place in 1933, when a Denver based asbestos company paid a settlement of $30,000 to eleven employees who had developed asbestos related diseases.
The dangers of asbestos were intentionally downplayed throughout the 20th century for a variety of reasons. Asbestos is an incredible insulator and fire retardant. It played a very important role in shipbuilding and national defense throughout World War II and then in industrial manufacturing and oil refining beyond the 1950′s. As asbestos related disease gains more and more publicity, however, it’s likely that big businesses of yesteryear will be brought to justice.
