Brothers Pursue Justice on Behalf of Their Sister After Her Death from Mesothelioma
When Mary Jane Wilde died of malignant mesothelioma, her four heartbroken brothers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Huntington Ingalls, Inc. They accused the organization of having failed to take the actions that would have protected her and the rest of their family from exposure to asbestos. Though the company attempted to remove the case to a federal court by arguing that their shipyard’s work was done on behalf of the government, both the district court and the United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit denied their motion, allowing the case to remain in the local court system.
Woman’s Mesothelioma Blamed on Childhood Second-Hand Asbestos Exposure
The mesothelioma lawsuit was filed by Stephen, Paul, Ragus, and Percy Legendre following the 2016 death of their sister Mary Jane. They claimed that her fatal illness had been caused by exposure to asbestos that their father had unknowingly carried home on his clothes each day when he returned home from working at the Avondale shipyard.
Second-hand asbestos exposure is frequently cited as the cause of malignant mesothelioma. In the case of Mary Jane Wilde’s illness, her siblings say that the shipyard could have taken measures to warn their father Percy of the risk that asbestos posed to him and to his family. The elder Legendre’s work in engine rooms at the Avondale shipyard in the 1940s had exposed him to asbestos that adhered to his hair, skin, and clothing, and when he returned home and played with her, she breathed in the deadly fibers that would later cause her cancer.
Asbestos Company Argues that Their Work was for the Government
Huntington’s attorneys attempted to have the mesothelioma case removed to federal court, where verdicts tend to be more favorable for defendants. But the justices on the appeals court said work being done for the government only excused a company of liability if the government had required them to act as they had. Because there was no conflict with the government’s requirements and the safety measures that Avondale could have taken, the judges ruled that they had been “free to adopt the safety measures the plaintiffs now allege would have prevented their injury.” The case will remain in the state courts where the Legendre brothers wanted it to be heard.
FREE Financial Compensation Packet
- Info on law firms that will recover your HIGHEST COMPENSATION
- Learn how to get paid in 90 days
- File for your share of $30 billion in trust funds
