Berniard Law Firm Files Two Asbestos Related Lung Cancer Lawsuits
April 15th, 2014
The Berniard Law Firm recently filed two separate lawsuits in Louisiana on behalf of clients who were diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos from their job. The first lawsuit filed was on behalf of a sixty four year old client who was from Vacherie Louisiana. That client only recently retired from his job at the Avondale shipyard after working there as a tacker/welder for over forty years. Unfortunately for the client he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in September of last year. The lung cancer was caused by the substantial quantities of asbestos dust that he was exposed to on a daily basis at his job site.
The second lawsuit that will be filed in New Orleans is on behalf of a seventy three year old man who worked as a mechanic for a heating a cooling company at various industrial sites in Louisiana. This client of the Berniard Law Firm was exposed to asbestos fibers as a result of his job at various chemical plants including but not limited to: Chalmette Refinery, Tenneco, Avondale Shipyard, Domino Sugar, Kaiser, Continental Grain, Marathon Oil, American Cyanamid, Murphy Oil, Boland Shipyard and Exxon in Chalmette.
By the time this client of Berniard Law Firm began working with and around asbestos products, virtually every state in the Unites States recognized asbestosis as compensable claims under workers’ compensation laws. In fact, the Louisiana legislature in 1952, when it enacted its first Workers’ Compensation Occupational Disease Act, listed asbestosis as a compensable occupational disease. Moreover, all suppliers (as well as independent contractors) to any company with government contracts were bound to comply with health and safety requirements of the Walsh-Healey Public Contract Act, first promulgated in 1936, as well as the regulations of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Maritime Commission in 1943. These mandatory regulations addressed asbestos hazards and asbestosis as a resultant disease of exposure to asbestos. They also required isolation of dusty work, ventilation, use of respirators, and medical examinations by doctors. Despite this, our client was never warned of any hazard associated with asbestos, was never protected by use of adequate ventilation, was required to work next to insulators using asbestos products and worked with and around asbestos-containing products. He never saw a warning on any asbestos product, nor was he warned by any contractor using asbestos products. Now this client has stage four lung cancer as a direct result of his exposure to asbestos.
These type of asbestos related lawsuits are representative of the wide variety of issues that the Berniard Law Firm stands at the ready to help his clients resolve. If you feel you have been a victim of asbestos exposure, don’t feel like you are powerless against big business. Call the Berniard Law Firm today and we will immediately begin working on your case.