Published:
Court Finds Exxon Ignored Asbestos Warnings, Imperiled Workers
BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Although company officials were
aware of the dangers of asbestos in theirLouisiana riverboats, chemical
plants and oil refineries as early as 1937, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XON)
failed to implement any type of safety measures to protect their workers,
ruled the Louisiana First Court of Appeal recently. The Court affirmed a trial
court's 2006 judgment awarding substantial damages to the family of a former
Exxon employee who died of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, announced
Baron & Budd, P.C.
"Exxon's own documents reveal that the company knew that the use of
asbestos insulation in the petroleum industry was hazardous to workers like
our client," said Renee Melancon, the Baron & Budd attorney who represented
the family on appeal. "Exxon even outlined a strategy for minimizing asbestos
exposure in its facilities in 1937, but just never bothered to follow through
on the plan to protect its workers."
The plaintiff, Bruce Spillman ofBaton Rouge, worked on Exxon towboats
from 1945 to 1949 and was exposed to asbestos when he spent time in the boats'
engine rooms. From 1949 until 1986, he worked as a helper, then a welder, in
Exxon'sBaton Rouge oil refinery, where he continued to be exposed to pipes
insulated with asbestos. Despite the 1949 warnings of its own industrial
hygienist about asbestos, Exxon neither alerted its workers to any danger nor
instructed them to wear masks. Mr. Spillman was diagnosed in 2005 with
mesothelioma, a painful and extremely aggressive cancer that causes the lining
around the lungs to thicken and harden. Mr. Spillman died later the same
year.
Exxon attempted to claim immunity from the lawsuit based on workers
compensation statutes, however, the First Circuit reaffirmed its earlier
ruling thatLouisiana's 1952 Workers' Compensation Act does not cover
mesothelioma and so does not bar suits by mesothelioma victims against their
employers for claims that accrued prior to 1975, when the law was amended to
cover that disease. In addition, the court held that the plaintiff's evidence
was more than sufficient to establish that Exxon knew of the need to protect
its workers from exposure to asbestos.
At trial, the family was represented by Baron & Budd special counsel
Cameron Waddell and attorney Jody Anderman, also of Baron & Budd, along with
Rick Nemeroff of the Nemeroff Law Firm.
"We proved, first to the trial court and then to the Court of Appeals,
that Exxon was responsible for exposing its own employees to dangerously high
levels of asbestos without adequate -- or, indeed, any -- respiratory
protection," said Mr. Waddell. "If Exxon had spent a fraction of the resources
attempting to protect this man that it spent trying to evade responsibility in
this lawsuit, then our client and his family never would have suffered this
tragedy."
About Baron & Budd, P.C.
For more than 30 years, the law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. has championed
the rights of people and communities harmed by corporate misconduct. With more
than 50 attorneys and offices inCalifornia,Texas andLouisiana, Baron & Budd
enjoys a national reputation as a leader of the plaintiffs' bar. The firm
represents individuals with mesothelioma and other diseases caused by
asbestos; injuries caused by other toxic substances and unsafe
pharmaceuticals; water authorities seeking clean-up costs for drinking water
contamination; government entities and whistleblowers fighting corporate fraud
through Qui Tam and False Claims Act cases; securities investors defrauded by
corporate wrongdoing; and consumers in class actions.
Contact: Christal Karnaze
703/615-5763
ChristalKarnaze@lmo.com
Susan Jones Knape
214/523-6226
Sknape@baronbudd.com
SOURCE Baron & Budd, P.C.
Copyright © 2008, PRNewswire
Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze,
Daily NewsTags: ,OIL,CHM,LAW,LA-Baron&, Budd-Exxon
_ _Is your favorite bookmark site missing?
Ask for it.
Search News
Daily News
