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July 10, 2013
Annapolis, Maryland - Mesothelioma victims nationwide were dealt a blow this week when a Maryland appeals court overturned a previous $5 million verdict, stating that the Georgia-Pacific Corporation was not responsible for illnesses suffered by household members of workers who were exposed to asbestos at the company’s plants some 50 years ago.
Specifically, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Georgia-Pacific was in no way obligated to warn relatives of employees working for the company in the 1960s of the dangers of asbestos exposure. The court determined that the toxicity of asbestos was not truly known until federal regulations were issued in 1972, even though there are mounds of evidence which indicate that executives at dozens of companies nationwide knew that asbestos was making their employees sick. In most cases, nothing was even done to warn employees.
A story on ABC2 News explains that the decision overturns a previous $5 million verdict awarded to Jocelyn Farrar, a malignant mesothelioma sufferer who is believed to have developed the disease due to exposure from shaking out and washing her grandfather’s clothes in the 1960s. He was employed at Georgia-Pacific at that time and was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis. The verdict had been determined almost four years ago in October 2009.
Ms. Farrar’s situation is not unusual, especially for those who both lived during a time when asbestos use was still common and cared for someone who was exposed to asbestos on the job. Secondhand asbestos exposure remains a major concern, and because mesothelioma takes such a long time to appear, secondhand victims will continue to be diagnosed for at least the next decade or so.
These victims are often women, many of them exposed to the toxic dust brought home on the clothes of family members. Some were even children who hugged their fathers when they returned from work or played on their laps before they showered after a day at work, prompting the inhalation of dangerous fibers. Many of these individuals have sued and been successful in their quest for compensation to cover medical bills and other expenses.
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