The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday derailed justice for railroad workers who contracted asbestos diseases to get their fair day in court against the companies that produced the harmful products.
When a mesothelioma victim files a state-law personal injury lawsuit, it usually includes claims that the manufacturer of asbestos products knew the dangers associated with the deadly mineral. The company responsible for producing a harmful defective product should pay for its misconduct. But Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision, citing an obscure federal law from the days of steam engines, will save unscrupulous asbestos companies from liability in future claims involving railroad workers.
The Justices point to the Locomotive Inspection Act that supersedes the states’ personal injury laws. The law, once known as the Boiler Inspection Act of 1911, requires locomotive parts to be in good working order and safe to operate.
This Supreme Court decision will have a drastic effect on families dealing with asbestos cancers such as mesothelioma. Companies should be held responsible for manufacturing and distributing asbestos products that later kill workers and fracture families. It already has had already hurt one family in Pennsylvania who brought the case to the Supreme Court.
For nearly 30 years, George Corson repaired locomotives in a maintenance facility for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. His duties included installing asbestos brake shoes and stripping asbestos insulation from boilers. In 2005, Corson was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma usually occurs in the area around the lung, the abdomen or the heart. There is no cure for this cancer.
Corson died two years after his diagnosis. Before his death, Corson sued Railroad Friction Products Corp. and Viad Corp. alleging that the two companies failed to provide warnings regarding the asbestos dangers.
If Corson worked in any other industry, he probably would’ve won his lawsuit based on state liability tort claims. The two companies would have been responsible and Corson’s widow might have been able to cover expensive medical bills. But Corson had the unfortunate luck of working for an industry covered by the Locomotive Inspection Act, the outdated rail safety law.
In spite of yesterday’s ruling, railroad workers can still file a lawsuit involving asbestos injury claims under the Federal Employees Liability Act. FELA allows workers to file suit against employers instead of the asbestos manufacturers.
At the heart of all this litigation is that America’s dependence on asbestos products remains unchanged. Our politicians need to ban asbestos products as most progressive countries already have done. For those people exposed to asbestos years ago, the damage is done. A ban will do little to help bring them justice, but it will help ensure that future generations of Americans won’t have to deal with this national asbestos tragedy.