High Court Favors Newly Wed Mesothelioma Widow
Imagine living with the same person for years, then learning they’re going to die of mesothelioma in a matter of months. When that happened to Jennifer Ripple, she and Richard Counter quickly married so that she could continue to seek justice on his behalf. But after he died, in addition to the shock, pain, and grief she experienced she was told she had no right to assume his lawsuit because they hadn’t been married at the time that he was exposed to asbestos. Ms. Ripple fought back, and the Florida Supreme Court agreed with her position.
Mesothelioma’s Long Latency Period Creates Additional Legal Challenges
Malignant mesothelioma has a notoriously long latency period: Victims aren’t diagnosed until forty to fifty years after they’ve been diagnosed. This can create complications for those seeking justice for deceased spouses, as many insurance companies require that victims be married to their spouse before an injury occurs for them to be entitled to file claims on their behalf.
This rule can preclude claims by those who’ve been married for decades and those married for shorter periods. In the case of Ms. Ripple and Mr. Counter, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2015 and the two got married two months later, but they had been together for many years before that. Common-law practice said that she was not entitled to assume his personal injury claim as a wrongful death claim, but the Florida Supreme Court disagreed.
CBS Corporation Argues Marriage Before Injury in Mesothelioma Claim
The original lawsuit filed by Mr. Counter blamed CBS corporation for his mesothelioma, pointing to asbestos exposure from the 1950s and 1960s. Four months after he filed suit he died and his widow amended his claim. Still, the company and an association of insurance companies fought back, arguing that “a person may not marry into a cause of action.”
The court took a dim view of what the defendants in the case referred to as a “long-established rule,” saying that Florida state’s 1972 Wrongful Death Act placed no restrictions on who qualifies as a surviving spouse. They wrote that a “surviving spouse under section 768.21(2) is a spouse at the time of the decedent’s death because the ordinary meaning of ‘surviving spouse’ is a spouse who outlives the other spouse.” The quest for justice on behalf of the mesothelioma victims will continue.
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