Legal Technicality Allows Mesothelioma Victim Choice of Legal Claim
When a person is diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, one of the first decisions they make is whether to pursue legal action against those responsible. If their disease results from workplace exposure, they are generally unable to sue their employer because of workers’ compensation laws, so they turn instead to pursuing claims against the manufacturers and distributors of the asbestos-contaminated products they worked with. Special circumstances apply to longshoremen and harbor workers that may limit their legal options, but a recent case saw a legal technicality work in the victim’s favor.
Shipyard Worker with Mesothelioma Allowed to File Suit Against Shipyard
The case involved Felton Robichaux, a land-based insulator and carpenter who spent years working at Avondale Shipyard. When he filed a claim against the company and shipyard, they countered by arguing that the case against them should be dismissed. Their reason was that the rules of the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act restricted him to filing for no-fault limited compensation rather than the personal injury claim he filed against them in state court.
In response to Avondale’s request for the claim to be dismissed, the mesothelioma victim noted that he had worked in the shipyard between 1961 and 1979, a time that the courts had established as a legal “twilight zone” during which injured maritime workers could choose whether to file their claim under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) or Louisiana state’s Worker’s Compensation Act.
Judge Notes Legal Twilight Zone in Mesothelioma Claim
U.S. District Judge Darrel James Papillion heard arguments from the defendants and the mesothelioma victim, then analyzed the laws that were in effect at the time that the victim was exposed to asbestos. He found that because the victim was able to choose between the LHWCA and the Louisiana State Workers’ Compensation Law that was in effect at the time, and that the latter did not specifically list mesothelioma as a covered disease, the victim was free to opt out of both choices and to turn instead to filing a personal injury claim under state law, as he’d done.
The ability to file his mesothelioma claim as a personal injury lawsuit rather than relying on no-fault workers’ compensation coverage gives Mr. Robichaux the ability to tell his story to a jury, which is likely to lead to significantly higher compensation for the damages that he suffered.
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