Beginning of Asbestos Lawsuits
For more than three decades, beginning in 1936, Borel - a husband and father of six children - worked in the shipyards and oil refineries along the Texas-Louisiana border. He insulated steam pipes, boilers and other high-temperature equipment using asbestos-laden products. By the mid-1960s, long-term, constant exposure to asbestos began to weaken Borel's lungs, causing him chest pain and making it difficult for him to breathe. In the winter of 1969, he was diagnosed with an advanced case of asbestosis.
That spring, Clarence filed a workers' compensation claim for injuries suffered on the job. He eventually settled the claim for a little more than $13,000. In the fall of '69, he visited a lawyer about seeking further compensation in the courts to pay for ongoing medical care and to provide for his family. Stephenson filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against 11 asbestos manufacturers across the United States, seeking $1 million in damages.
Borel v. Fireboard Paper was decided for the plaintiff in 1973, but Borel never heard its final disposition from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. He died in June 1970 of mesothelioma.
Stephenson's case, in which a court for the first time found an asbestos manufacturer liable for injuries caused by its product, was buttressed by two separate events from the 1960s. The first was a 1964 medical finding of Drs. Selikoff, Churg and Hammond, which proved conclusively that asbestos caused lung damage and disease. Stephenson introduced these now proven facts as medical evidence.
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Between 1982 and 2002, the number of asbestos claimants increased from 1,000 to 730,000 while the total number of companies sued went from 300 to 8,400.
http://www.asbestos.com/legislation/history.php
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Originally posted by Sparky
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