Mesothelioma from secondhand exposure brings new wave of lawsuits
Secondhand exposure to asbestos might also be called secondary, take home or off-site exposure, but by any name, it is deadly. Secondhand exposure usually results when someone wears asbestos-covered work clothes home and exposes other members of the household to the fibers. The dust sticks to everything and fibers can remain in the air for an extended time. Family members breathe in the microscopic fibers, and some develop mesothelioma or asbestosis decades later. Today, lawsuits involving secondhand exposure to asbestos are showing up in courts across the country, more than 800 in 2009.
Since so many asbestos manufacturers are out of business, the targets of the lawsuits are most often the employers, something which raises a sticky point of law. While there is no question that employers are responsible for employees’ safety, can they be held responsible for the safety of people employees come in contact with? Advocates for victims rights say yes, but courts rulings have varied around the country—some courts finding that employers are responsible for this foreseeable harm and others holding that the employers have no duty to family members of their employees.
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