Lawsuits regarding negligent exposure to asbestos and the harms that it causes are becoming more commonplace, even in cases where the opposition is a big and powerful company. The circumstances around the rise of asbestos litigation are peculiar, to say the least. The medical community has been passively aware of the dangers of asbestos for nearly eighty years, but dangerous use of the material continued until just before the turn of the century and concerns about asbestos exposure are still serious to this day. The recent increase of legal action against companies that negligently exposed their employees to asbestos reflects both the latency of asbestos related disease, that is, how long the disease takes to develop after exposure to asbestos, and a concerted attempt to downplay the negative ramifications of the asbestos industry throughout the twentieth century.
Mesothelioma and other asbestos related cancers can take anywhere from a few years to more than half a century to become easily diagnosable, which means that many mesothelioma patients today could have been exposed to asbestos fibers as early as the late 1950’s – right during the peak of the asbestos industry. Asbestos related industries were incredibly important to the United States during and directly after World War II for bolstering and maintaining our superior navy and stimulating our post war economy, which unfortunately led to a dangerous lack of focus on the material’s adverse effects.
These circumstances are presently causing somewhat of a culmination of asbestos related litigation. More and more asbestos related lawsuits are being filed, many of which incite some public interest because of the companies that are involved. One such lawsuit was filed Friday of last week against Chevron USA, a well known oil conglomerate.
The lawsuit was filed by Provost Umphrey attorney Keith Hyde on the behalf of Betty Lou, the widow of Billy Cunningham, a former employee of Chevron USA. Billy Cunningham died of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos, due to his exposure to the material during his employment with Chevron.
The lawsuit stated 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 fact that employers of yesteryear acted in gross neglect in spite of the fact that the dangers of asbestos were known is becoming a focal point in asbestos related litigation. The Chevron USA lawsuit goes on to say that “…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.”
Asbestos has been known to be a dangerous substance for more than half a century, and while it’s a tragedy that so many people have suffered from exposure to the substance, it appears as if justice is finally being served, if slowly.
