Sydney, Australia jury compensates $500,000 asbestos death claim

2009-04-17 02:47:20 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Justice News Flash, Mesothelioma Asbestos)

Australian asbestos containing construction products maker loses asbestos claim

Australia Court of Appeals upholds $500,000 mesothelioma death verdict.

Sydney, Australia(JusticeNewsFlash.com)–An Australia Court of Appeals upheld a record Dust Diseases Tribunal award against James Hardie a building material producer. The legal action was filed by Margaret Dawson, the 64 year-old wife and daughter of two asbestos materials workers at the building product plant who handled asbestos containing materials at work. The lawsuit alleged the construction material company’s asbestos dust was carried home on the clothes of the company workers, and Dawson was exposed to the toxic asbestos fibers and particles while laundering their work clothes.

Dawson was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by direct and secondary exposure to asbestos-containing products, in 2007 and died 8 months later from the fatal disease. According to the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, the ruling by the Dust Diseases Tribunal of $500,000 was a legal first. Hopefully the compensation ruling paved the way for thousands of asbestos workers, laborers, and family members to receive relief and recovery for their asbestos illness and mesothelioma injury claims. James Hardie company executives appealed to the Supreme Court and lost the $500,000 asbestos exposure injury case. The building materials maker previously set up an Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund in 2001 in an attempt to avoid their legal obligations to asbestos victims.

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