Asbestos claiming continues to globalize as against some defendants. Bloomberg is reporting that a Brazilian government agency has filed a new lawsuit seeking from Eternit SA some $420 million of compensation for diseases arising in persons in Brazil who were exposed to and injured by asbestos. The claim is said to exceed the value of the company. The Bloomberg story is online here, and pasted below:
"Eternit SA (ETER3), a Brazilian construction materials manufacturer, fell as prosecutors said they would seek as much as 1 billion reais ($420 million) of compensation on behalf of workers exposed to asbestos.
Eternit’s shares fellك.3 percent to 9.40 reais at 3:23 p.m. in Sao Paulo after earlier declining as much as 4.3 percent in the steepest intraday drop since June 20. The benchmark Ibovespa index addedـ.1 percent.
The Public Ministry of Labor demanded that Eternit compensate workers of an Osasco, Sao Paulo, plant and provide medical treatment, according to a statement on the prosecutors’website. More than 10,000 workers may have been affected. The amount claimed is more than Eternit’s market value of 853.8 million reais as of today.
Eternit, based in Sao Paulo, said in a regulatory filing that it wasn’t notified of the lawsuit.
The civil charges were filed with the labor court in Sao Paulo, and there’s no estimate when the case will be heard, according to the prosecutors’statement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Denyse Godoy in Sao Paulo at dgodoy2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Papadopoulos at papadopoulos@bloomberg.net"