Mesothelioma Lawyers Blog

November 1, 2016

OSHA Levies Huge Fines for Asbestos Exposure

Poor air quality has been a major concern for workers in many occupations for decades. In fact, the majority of mesothelioma cases stem from inadequate ventilation on job sites ranging from demolition to shipbuilding. Given what we know about the dangers of lacking ventilation – and the high damage awards companies have paid for failing to protect workers – one would think more companies would be taking it seriously. As it turns out, the need for vigilance remains.

According to a recent news article from Channel 3000, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has just levied nearly $250,000 in fines after the agency concluded workers on a nursing home renovation project were put in danger as a result of 13 safety violations. The agency also found that of these 13 safety violations, four of them were willful, and the remaining nine were classified as being serious in nature.

OSHA first became involved in the case when five workers became sick while on the job and were diagnosed with carbon monoxide exposure. Carbon monoxide exposure can lead to asphyxiation, which causes brain damage and death in a relatively short amount of time depending on the oxygen level in the room at the time of exposure. Continue reading

October 27, 2016

Update: Teaticket Elementary Asbestos Cleanup Now Up to $900,000

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

This past summer, school officials in Teaticket were told that workers installing new air conditioning vents discovered what they believed to be asbestos. After inspectors took samples and sent those samples for a microscopic analysis and confirmed there was asbestos, school officials knew they could not open on time this school year and held an emergency meeting with parents to discuss the alternatives.

In addition to making arrangements for the students to go to other elementary schools until Teaticket in Falmouth could be cleaned up, they worked on getting the proper permits and setting up an asbestos abatement plan. Town selectmen voted to release $300,000 in funds and an emergency amount appropriate to pay for the asbestos abatement. However, the actual cleanup cost is turning out to be a lot higher than they initially estimated. Continue reading

October 24, 2016

Report: Jury Awards $4.6 Million in Mesothelioma Case

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article in the Pantagraph, a jury in Indiana has just awarded $4.6 million to a 73-year-old man who developed malignant mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos. He was exposed to asbestos over 50 years ago while working for a portable elevator company owned and operated by defendant.

If you have ever seen a tall building under construction, you may have noticed that the contractors will erect an elevator on the outside of the unfinished building so workers can travel up and down the structure. These elevators have also been featured in many action movies over the years. It is not the general contractor, but rather a portable elevator company that sets up these elevators for use during the construction project and then removes the portable elevator when the job is complete. These portable elevators have metal frames that workers must weld and properly fit with electrical wires as part of the set-up job. Continue reading

October 18, 2016

Florida Makes Causation More Difficult in Asbestos Claims

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent article from the National Law Review, the state of Florida joined a group of states that are making it more difficult to prove causation in mesothelioma lawsuits. The first thing to discuss is what the term causation means in this context.

In any mesothelioma lawsuit, the primary claim is filed under a negligence theory. This is true even though we may be dealing a specific claim such as a failure to warn of a known danger. In any negligence case, there are four elements. The first element is whether the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff. The second element is whether the defendant breached a duty of care, assuming one was owed. The next element is known as causation and the fourth element is the amount of damages, if any, the defendant’s breach of a duty of due care caused the plaintiff. Continue reading

October 14, 2016

AZ Court Rules for Companies in Take Home Asbestos Cases

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Take home asbestos cases are getting a lot of attention across the country. A take home asbestos case deals with the defendant’s duty to warn a so-called non-user of the danger of exposure to deadly asbestos fibers.

The first thing to understand is what a user of asbestos and a non-user of asbestos mean. A user of asbestos was someone who worked in an asbestos mine, or a factory where asbestos products were used or manufactured, or a builder who worked with asbestos products. One of the biggest uses of asbestos in construction projects was in drywall and wall joint compounds. This means that there as a lot of dust that contained the deadly asbestos fibers being spread around the construction site. Continue reading

October 11, 2016

EPA Agrees to Remove Asbestos from Factory

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from Insurance Journal, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) felt it had no choice but to send its own staff into a New York factory to stop the spread of deadly asbestos fibers, as they have become a major threat to local officials. The EPA is stepping in at the request of the local government, as the local officials do not have the resources to protect the community from the threat of exposure from asbestos.

The factory consists of multiple buildings and has been closed and abandoned for several years. The buildings were constructed at time when asbestos was heavily used in many aspects of construction and also production. While the asbestos was very hazardous to the workers when the buildings were going up, once principal construction was complete, there was no major danger for the most part. However, as there were likely renovations over the years, it is probable that workers were exposed to the deadly asbestos fibers from time time. Continue reading

October 9, 2016

New England Worksite Receives Multiple Asbestos Violations

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news article from the New Haven Independent, the owner of a construction company has decided to challenge a $65,000 fine that has been assessed by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA is a federal agency that is responsible for investigating worker safety violations across the United States. In cases involving toxic substances such as asbestos, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has jurisdiction to get involved or lead an investigation. Continue reading

October 8, 2016

Report: Asbestos Hinders Deadly Train Crash Investigation

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

As many may have heard, a commuter train recently crashed in New Jersey, resulting in the death of a woman who was standing on the station platform at the time, as well as the injury of more than 100 people. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently investigating the cause of the deadly train accident, but they have run into a roadblock of sorts in their investigation, and that roadblock is the presence of deadly asbestos fibers, according to a recent news feature from NBC News.

What investigators do know as of this time is that the train entered the Hoboken station at a very high rate of speed. Passengers on the train noticed they were traveling very fast and realized something was not right. The train did not engage its brakes and crashed at this high rate of speed. Once witness said he saw the train had hit a large pylon and then crashed into a stationary store in the station. There were over a hundred people on the train and wandering around the station. Many of these victims were covered in blood and were described as being dazed by those who saw them, including first responders. Continue reading

October 6, 2016

Pool Chemical Companies Oppose Asbestos Law

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

A number of public health officials are pushing for the Environmental Protection Agency to put asbestos at the top of their list of regulatory priorities. However, Bloomberg reports those in the pool chemical industry are concerned about this. That’s because chlorine, caustic soda and other chemicals manufactured in this industry use asbestos. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey lists the chlor-alkali industry as the No. 1 importer of asbestos in its yearly mineral commodity summary. The chlorine industry’s use of asbestos accounts for 90 percent of the 358 tons of asbestos imported into the country last year, according to the survey’s most recent report.

While many people think of asbestos as a man-made product, it is actually a naturally occurring substance made up of a combination of silica elements. It forms in the ground like other minerals and has been used by humans for thousands of years.

However, it was during the 1800s in the industrial revolution that it became heavily used, and, by the 1970s, when the asbestos ban went into effect, asbestos was used in just about every residential, commercial, and industrial construction project in much of the world. There are various reasons that asbestos was used so heavily. Continue reading

October 2, 2016

Mass. Landlord to Pay $100,000 Asbestos Lawsuit Settlement

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news feature from the Boston Herald, a landlord who owns multiple rental units in New Bedford, Massachusetts has agreed to pay $100,000 in civil fines. This payment will be made to settle claims filed by the Commonwealth’s Attorney General related to asbestos violations. The allegations were that he was renovating four residences and engaged in illegal asbestos removal during the renovation process.

Specifically, the lawsuit filed in the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston alleges that his contractors knowingly had workers remove material containing deadly asbestos fibers without wearing proper protective clothing and without having ventilators or respirators. The material was then taken out with ordinary construction waste and taken to a landfill instead of being taken to a proper asbestos collection facility that handles this and other hazardous waste. Continue reading