In October 2020, Spencer Thurman Cantrell died of malignant mesothelioma. His widow, Mildred, filed a workers’ compensation claim for dependent benefits against his former employer, Adams Mfg. Co. When the company’s claims administrator denied the claim, she protested the decision to the workers’ compensation board, which affirmed the administrator’s decision. Undaunted, Mrs. Cantrell appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals of West Virginia, which vacated the Board’s order and returned the claim for reconsideration.
Man’s Mesothelioma Blamed on Decades of Asbestos Exposure
Mrs. Cantrell provided the workers’ compensation board with significant evidence of the asbestos exposure that led to her late husband’s mesothelioma. In addition to the typewritten statement he prepared immediately after his diagnosis, which detailed his employment history and responsibilities, she provided an affidavit from his former supervisor, information from equipment manuals and specifications for the equipment he had worked on, and physicians’ statements.
Despite the abundance of proof, the workers’ compensation board denied Ms. Cantrell’s claim, asserting that she had failed to demonstrate that he had been exposed to the hazards of occupational pneumoconiosis during the course of his employment, and offered an affidavit from a shop foreman saying he was unaware of asbestos having been present in the facility.
Court Agrees that Mesothelioma Decision Was Wrongly Decided
In its written decision, the appeals court said that the basis for the review board had incorrectly applied the rules for occupational pneumoconiosis to the mesothelioma case. They noted that when “studies and research clearly link a disease to a particular hazard of the workplace, a prima facie case of causation arises upon a showing that the claimant was exposed to the hazard and is suffering from the disease to which it is connected.”
The appeals court called the board’s decision “clearly wrong” because it had based its order on standards that apply to occupational pneumoconiosis instead of the six factors established in West Virginia’s laws that apply to occupational diseases. The decision was vacated and returned to the workers’ compensation board for reconsideration.
If you or someone you love has died of malignant mesothelioma, the road to justice can be filled with challenges. For help with getting the compensation you deserve, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
