Lords Reject Compensation for Thousands of Asbestos Sufferers
- Lawyers For Those Exposed To Asbestos ‘Bitterly Disappointed’
Lawyers representing thousands of people who have developed pleural plaques, damage to the lung only caused by exposure to asbestos, are ‘bitterly disappointed’ following today’s judgment from the House of Lords rejecting claims for compensation by thousands of people exposed to asbestos at work through no fault of their own.
The Law Lords today upheld the Court of Appeal’s March 2006 decision to stop compensation payments for people suffering from pleural plaques following asbestos exposure at work.
Paul Meehan, partner at the London office of law firm Pattinson & Brewer which represents hundreds of people exposed to asbestos, says: “The Lords have decided that pleural plaques amount to minimal damage and do not justify legal claims, even though the injuries indicate asbestos exposure and alerts the sufferer to the potential of developing malignant diseases, including the deadly cancer mesothelioma.
“Thousands of workers who have been injured through their employers’ neglect have been let down because the decision has gone in favour of employers’ and insurers’ commercial interests, despite many employers having admitted to negligently exposing workers to asbestos.
“We argue that a person exposed to asbestos at work, of which the plaques are evidence, should be able to claim compensation because they have been injured, as the plaques are an injury. The fact that it is benign should not be an issue.
“The injured person would also then carry the burden of worrying that they could develop a serious asbestos-related disease.
“I am bitterly disappointed at the Lords’ decision. It means that people who know they have an asbestos-related injury – and who carry the burden of worry about what it may develop into - now have no legal means to claim compensation.”