Mesothelioma Injury Compensation

A Californian man, who contracted cancer after working with brake linings that contained asbestos, has been awarded almost £11m in a compensation for mesothelioma cancer at work from asbestos in a court hearing.

The family of a man, who died from asbestos exposure after working in his home city´s shipyards, has been awarded a mesothelioma injury compensation settlement of 9.18 million dollars by a jury in Virginia after a three week trial.

John Bristow from Newport News in Virginia died in 2011 from mesothelioma cancer after working in the city´s shipyards for 37 years. Although retiring as a design engineer, doctors who attended him before his death suggested that the exposure to asbestos which was responsible for his condition had occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

During that period, John had worked for five different companies; however the claim for work related illness brought by John´s widow, Anne, and her two sons was made against John Crane Inc. of Morton Grove, Illinois, who manufactured gaskets and sheet packing which contained asbestos for the shipbuilding industry.

Anne´s legal representatives argued that John Crane Inc. had been one of the main users of asbestos in the Newport News shipyards, and should have been aware of the dangers of working with asbestos but failed to warn their employees. It was claimed that John would have been breathing in countless millions of asbestos fibres over the years without even knowing it.

After two days of deliberations, the jury agreed with Anne´s legal representatives and awarded John´s family a total of 9.18 million dollars to account for John´s pain and suffering while he was ill, Anne´s psychological suffering while she watched her husband die from this incurable illness, and the loss of a father to John´s two sons.

A ferry worker, who contracted mesothelioma cancer as a result of being exposed to asbestos, has been awarded 1.45 million dollars in occupational illness compensation by a jury in Seattle.

Roger Hammett (84) of Maury Island, Washington, was diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer in August 2010 after working all his life on naval vessels, commercial ships and ferries through the Puget Sound. Prior to his diagnosis he was a fit active man but has now been given less than a year to live by doctors.

Although many of the vessels on which he worked may have contributed to his condition, a compensation for mesothelioma claim was made against Sea-Land Service Inc. – a ferry company for whom Roger worked during the sixties aboard the SS Seattle travelling between Seattle and Kodiak Island in Alaska.

It was alleged in the action for occupational illness compensation that Roger´s exposure to asbestos was most intense aboard the SS Seattle due to the company being in violation of government health regulations regarding the material. It was argued in court that even if Sea-Land Service Inc. were unaware of the government regulations at the time, they should have been due to the volume of information available.

The jury at Kings County District Court decided that because of Roger´s many different employments during a 60 year career at sea, Sea-Land Service Inc. were only to be held 70 per cent liable for his condition and awarded him 1.45 million dollars.