Edward M. Nass Asbestos Litigation Law Blog on Lawyers.com

New Jersey has played a significant role in the history of mesothelioma law. The legal actions that have occurred, and the lawsuits that continue to be filed against corporations in New Jersey have enabled workers everywhere to sue for mesothelioma and other asbestos-triggered illnesses.

What makes New Jersey so significant with regards to asbestos litigation? Because the state has the unfortunate distinction of ranking eighth in the United States for mesothelioma cases and has a mortality rate from the disease that makes it sixth in the country for mesothelioma deaths. The state contains a number of known companies and workplaces where workers were exposed to asbestos over the years. A partial list includes the following:

¿ Atlantic City Electric Co.

¿ Kearney Shipyard

¿ Johns Manville

¿ Esso Oil and Sun Oil Refineries

¿ RCA

¿ NY Shipbuilding 

¿ Oyster Creek Nuclear Station

¿ Todd Shipyard

¿ American Cyanamid

¿ Dupont

In general, many employees of New Jersey’s oil refineries, power plants, and shipyards have been exposed to asbestos and continue to suffer the consequences, including deadly mesothelioma. The following are a couple of significant NJ cases that made mesothelioma and asbestos litigation history.

Landmark New Jersey Cases

A New Jersey attorney by the name of Karl Asch discovered the existence of the Sumner Simpson Papers. Asch was representing a group of plaintiffs employed at a Passaic, NJ asbestos plant owned by Raybestos-Manhattan. While doing research, Asch found the papers at Raybestos’s corporate office. They showed that Raybestos willfully conspired with Johns-Manville to hide information about the dangers of asbestos from employees and the public. This eliminated the “state of the art” defense previously used by asbestos companies to defend themselves against such lawsuits, in which companies claimed ignorance of any risks from asbestos exposure before 1964.

A more recent, significant New Jersey case was filed in 2007 in Middlesex County. A woman was exposed to asbestos through her husband’s and children’s jobs. She was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2002 and, despite treatment attempts, died not long after. The lawsuit claimed that she had been exposed to asbestos through her families’ laundry, which was contaminated while they worked with asbestos-containing Bendix brakes. The Environmental Protection Agency subsequently released new guidelines regarding asbestos safety and automotive repairs.

There are many cases still outstanding in New Jersey courts with regards to mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. Their eventual outcomes will continue to define exposed worker’s rights for years to come.

This article is presented courtesy of the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware asbestos law firm of Howard, Brenner, and Nass P.C., 877-237-9597, www.hbnlawfirm.com.