Most cancer trials are tough for most asbestos defendants to win, in most venues. The point is highlighted by a news story out of Japan, from a January 29, 2016 article on jiji.com. According to an online currency conversion calculator, the total damages awarded slightly exceed $1 million. The article states the following:
Kyoto, Jan. 29 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese court ordered nine companies on Friday to pay total damages of 112 million yen for selling construction materials without warning that they contain asbestos. The order came in response to a lawsuit from former construction workers that demanded the government and 32 construction materials makers to pay a total of about one billion yen in damages for lung cancer or mesothelioma that they developed by inhaling asbestos at construction sites. The plaintiffs, totaling 27, include the families of dead workers. Selling asbestos-containing construction materials without any warning is an offense, Kazumi Higa, presiding judge at Kyoto District Court, said. It is the first time that construction materials makers have been found liable for health problems related to asbestos. The court also ordered the government to pay 104 million yen in damages for its failure to take steps to prevent the diseases, including obliging workers to use dust masks.
(2016/01/29-18:17)
Further information is available.
Comentários