In Newport News, Virginia, asbondos litigation was encouraged by the presence of Newport News Shipbuilding and other defense contractors. Asbestos is widely used in shipbuilding industry.
Video Newport News asbestos litigation
Cases
About 500 people died of asbestos exposure at the Newport News shipyard.
Exxon
In March 2011, a jury at Newport News gave about $ 25 million to a former shipyard worker named Rubert Minton. Minton has worked on 17 different Exxon tankers during his career. Several decades later he began to suffer from mesothelioma. He filed a lawsuit against Exxon in 2009. Minton's primary lawyer was Robert Hatten. Hatten said the award would be reduced to about $ 17.5 million because the $ 12.5 million compensation awarded by the jury exceeded the $ 5 million that Minton had sued.
The setting of the shipowner is the development of a new law. Most of the asbestos suits in Newport News have previously been filed against component makers. Shipyards have immunity from asbestos clothing under workers' compensation laws. Exxon said the shipyard is fully responsible for the safety of its workers and that there is no evidence on its ships. Minton's lawyers say Exxon was new about the health risks of asbestos in the 1930s and created rules to protect workers themselves but did nothing to warn shipyard workers.
Dorthe Crisp Gibbs v. Newport News Shipbuilding & amp; Drydock Co.
Gibbs is a member of the United States Navy who was actively in charge when he was exposed to asbestos after being ordered to take part in a pre-commission nuclear submarine test. He later developed mesothelioma and died in 2009. Gibbs sued Newport News in 2008. His wife went on the lawsuit and demanded a wrongful death.
State circuit court dismissed the case. The court ruled that workers' compensation was his exclusive remedy. The Virginia Supreme Court overturned a court ruling in 2012. It was found that because the Navy is not responsible for workers compensation, Gibbs can file a lawsuit against Newport News.
Maps Newport News asbestos litigation
Criticism
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) calls Newport News "Judicial Hellhole" for allegedly applying the law in a way that is biased for the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs at Newport News have about 87% success rate. Robert Hatten, a leading asbestos lawyer in Newport News from Patten, Wornom, Hatten & amp; Diamondstein, says ATRA is engaged in "propaganda."
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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