Class Action and the Ethics of Asbestos Litigation

In 2002, somewhere around 8500 defendants were sued in an asbestos class suite by approximately 730,000 claimants. The amounts sued for were staggering, as those that were suffering from mesothelioma cancer as a consequence of being exposed to asbestos, had medical bills that reached close to a million dollars. However, a large part of this money went towards the cost of litigation, netting attorneys millions. This article speaks about class action and the ethics of asbestos litigation.

Asbestos Mesothelioma Attorneys Driven by Greed?
Attorneys who specialize in mesothelioma litigation stand to make a fortune and it is, therefore, no surprise that they are constantly advertising for clients who have been incapacitated or are dying from this disease.

Perils of Asbestos Known by 1930s
Asbestos mining companies and companies that utilized asbestos in the manufacture of many goods were aware of the health consequences by the 1930s. It was kept under wraps because it would have affected the profits of the various companies and shareholders would not have been pleased. The two major diseases that stem from exposure to asbestos are asbestoses and mesothelioma.

Profits Ahead of People
While it is clear that companies put profits ahead of the lives of their staff and that this is clearly unethical behavior, it is not so clear whether it is ethical for attorneys to seek out those who currently suffer the ill effects of the inhalation of asbestos in order to earn the high legal fees associated with this particular line of litigation.

Many More Cases Ahead
It is calculated that asbestos related illnesses will continue to rise during the next decade and that the cost of litigation will be somewhere in the arena of $250 billion. That is a lot of money. The question is how much of this figure is going towards treating the illness and how much of that figure is going into the pockets of attorneys.

It is also calculated that during the next four decades, there will be approximately a further 700,000 cases involving either mesothelioma or some other asbestos condition. It is no surprise either that insurers and reinsurers are not too happy with that information.

Twin Towers Released 1000 Tons of Asbestos Fibers into Air
When the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11^th, apparently some 1000 tons of asbestos were released into the air and this has been the reason that so many of those that assisted in the rescue on that terrible day have died of cancer or are currently suffering the illness.

United States Only Industrialized Country That Hasn't Banned Asbestos
Despite the knowledge that asbestos products were deadly to human life, the United States has been the only industrialized country not to ban its use. Asbestos is still used in cement pipes in order to make it stronger. Naturally, some of those asbestos fibers finds their way into the drinking system, and this too is admitted.

Why Do Workers Continue To Work for These Companies?
With the information now firmly in the public domain, one has to ask why some would continue to work for companies that used asbestos. The answer is that jobs are scarce and if one has the choice of dying of starvation now and dying of cancer in thirty years, it’s more necessary to look after the immediate situation.

EWG Group Quotation
EWG Group says on its home page on the web, “The site takes the visitor behind closed doors at asbestos companies and their insurers via internal documents showing that company after company was willing to let workers suffer and die long after it was clear that asbestos was killing them. It is precisely the callous behavior evidenced by these documents that is at the core of all asbestos litigation. This fact, however, has been largely buried beneath claims that the litigation has "bankrupted" dozens of large U.S. companies.”

Five Groups of People at Play
Essentially, there are five groups of people at play here. They are the workers who , for the most part, were ignorant of the dangers of their environment, the employers who well knew that their employees would suffer ill health and probable early death as a consequence, the asbestos mesotheliomaattorneys who in suing the employers make a large amount of money for themselves, the insurers who have everything to lose, and the government who should have banned asbestos mining and product manufacture in the 30s, but still hasn’t got around to putting the final nail in that coffin.

The Ethics
With the exception of those workers who had no idea as to what they were exposing themselves to, one could almost say that the other four groups deserve each other.Only the workers are essentially free from an ethical taint here. While there are no doubt some attorneys who work a basic wage, it's probably not likely. More likely, their fees will take a healthy portion of any settlement. The employers have nobody to blame but their own greed and blatant disregard for the safety and well being of their employees. And the insurers had years of incoming fees with nothing to pay out on. The old axiom is that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. No doubt insurers will, at some point, realize this.

How could the situation be resolved so that not only those that have lost lives, but those that have been affected through those lost lives, get fair compensation, without a vast amount of money going in other directions?

Solutions

• Immediately ban all mining, manufacturing, and importing or products that contain any asbestos content.
• Legislate so that all companies that have had anything to do with asbestos mining or manufacturing, plus the selling of these products, are responsible for a fund that takes care of all needs that result from any illness (there are five) caused by asbestos.
• Where there is ample evidence that CEOs or management knew that asbestos was harmful to employees, instigate proceedings for murder. That is exactly what it is.
• Ensure that all those suffering from asbestoses, mesothelioma, and other conditions caused by these fibers, have access to free first class care.

"The cost of asbestos litigation is high. AsbestosMesothelioma litigation has so far bankrupted over 70 corporations and cost $70 billion; studies show that companies bankrupted by asbestos have slashed an estimated 60,000 jobs, failed to create 128,000 new jobs, and foregone an estimated $10 billion in investment. This damage is expected to escalate. Experts predict that total claims could reach 1.3 million to 3.1 million. If current estimates of the eventual payout prove accurate, the final price tag of asbestos litigation could be $200 billion to $275 billion, with an additional $33 billion in foregone investment and 423,000 jobs not created."