Court upholds right of mesothelioma victims to pursue compensation from their employers

Baton Rouge, LA (June 1, 2009) The Louisiana Supreme Court has handed down an opinion preserving the rights of mesothelioma victims to pursue compensation from their employers for their asbestos-related disease. Almost a year to the day after the First Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment on behalf of a Louisiana pipefitter with the asbestos-related disease, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued an opinion in Rando v. Anco Insulations, Inc., resolving a nearly decade-long split among the state’s appellate courts by holding that mesothelioma victims occupationally exposed to asbestos before 1975 may file suit against their employers. Previously, two of Louisiana’s five courts of appeal had held that such cases were barred by Louisiana’s workers’ compensation law. The case also upheld a substantial verdict against defendants Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, Inc. and Jacobs Constructors, Inc.

Renée Melançon

The plaintiff was represented before the Louisiana Supreme Court by Baron & Budd attorney Renée Melançon and by Robert Arceneaux of Metairie, Louisiana. Baron & Budd attorney Cameron Waddell represented the plaintiff at trial.

"This case is a major victory for victims of asbestos-related cancer in Louisiana," said Russell W. Budd, managing shareholder of Baron & Budd. "As a result, employers responsible for exposing their workers to asbestos prior to 1975 cannot evade liability by hiding behind the workers’ compensation statute."

The supreme court also held that the case was not barred by Louisiana’s 10-year peremptive period to bring claims for injuries arising from deficiencies in the construction of improvements to real property. Because the plaintiff’s employer—a contractor responsible for construction projects at a chemical plant—had control over the construction at the time of the asbestos exposure, the court held that the plaintiff’s claims against his employer fell within the peremption statute’s exception.

The dangers of asbestos exposure, particularly to those like the plaintiff working in close proximity to asbestos insulation, were widely known in industry circles for decades before the plaintiff worked for Parsons and Jacobs.

"Our client’s employers did not protect him from the clouds of asbestos dust in which he worked, even though basic prevention methods have been known since the 1930s," said Melançon. "This man had to accept that his cancer was preventable, but that his employers had done nothing to protect him."

About Baron & Budd

Dallas-based Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Baton Rouge, Austin and Beverly Hills, is a nationally recognized firm that has over three decades of experience representing people and communities harmed by corporate negligence. The firm resolved one of the first asbestos exposure cases in the United States in the 1970s and has continued to help people affected by exposure to asbestos, water contaminants and other toxins.