Can Workers Compensation Help Mesothelioma Victims?

The shock of being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease is made worse by the overwhelming medical expenses that quickly follow. Most victims’ exposure occurred on the job, raising an important question: Can workers’ compensation help? 

Understanding Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation is an insurance program designed to provide financial benefits and medical care to employees who suffer job-related injuries or illnesses. It is a no-fault solution that provides benefits no matter who caused the workplace injury or illness. The guaranteed coverage provided by workers’ compensation represents a compromise between employers and employees: Workers don’t have to prove employer negligence to receive benefits for workplace injuries, and employers are protected from expensive lawsuits.[1]

Workers’ compensation programs are in place in every state in the country. Though specific regulations and benefits vary, programs typically provide several key benefits:[1]

• Medical Care: Coverage including doctor visits, hospital stays, surgeries, medications, and rehabilitation services related to the injury or illness.
• Disability Benefits: Replacement income for employees who can no longer perform their jobs due to their injury or illness. These benefits can be temporary or permanent, partial or total, depending on the individual situation.
• Vocational Rehabilitation: Help finding appropriate alternative employment for workers whose injuries keep them from returning to their previous job duties.
• Death Benefits: Financial support for dependents of workers who’ve died as a result of their job-related causes. This benefit often includes coverage for funeral expenses.

Most employers in the United States are required by law to carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. Costs are typically based on the company’s industry, its claims history, and the size of its payroll. When an employee is injured or becomes sick, it’s their responsibility to report what happened to their employer and to file a claim within state-mandated deadlines.[1]

Though workers’ compensation is meant to be a non-adversarial process, pursuing a claim is often difficult, and this is especially true for occupational diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis. With asbestos-related diseases typically developing long after exposure, almost all workers find themselves far past the typical filing deadlines, which creates significant complications and questions about eligibility.[2] The challenges involved and the relatively modest amount of money they’re likely to receive make many workers hesitate before filing for these benefits, despite being entitled to them.

Eligibility Requirements for Mesothelioma Workers’ Compensation

To qualify for workers’ compensation for mesothelioma, applicants must generally meet four basic requirements:

1. Must be or have been an employee and not an independent contractor
2. The employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance
3. The illness must be work-related. In the case of mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, the employee must prove occupational exposure to asbestos.
4. The claim must be filed within the state’s statute of limitations.

Because of malignant mesothelioma’s exceptionally long latency period, the last requirement often represents the biggest challenge for mesothelioma patients. Most states’ workers’ compensation rules include strict time limits for filing claims, and these limits are usually between one and three years after the workplace injury or exposure occurred. 

Examples of Mesothelioma Victims’ Workers’ Compensation Claims

Many mesothelioma victims don’t begin to have symptoms or get diagnosed until 40 or 50 years after being exposed to asbestos, long after most have retired or moved on from that employer. The decades that have gone by put them well past the standard deadline. Still, many states’ laws have added special allowances for the long time period tied to occupational exposure to asbestos. Some examples of successful claims include:

• A Delaware widow filed for workers’ compensation benefits for herself after her husband died of malignant mesothelioma in 2018. William McLaughlin had been exposed to asbestos during his years working as a plumber and pipefitter for C&D Contractors, Inc. from 1980 to 1989 and was not exposed to asbestos after leaving the company. Though the company argued that her benefit should be based on the compensation he was earning in 1989, when he was last exposed to asbestos, the widow argued that her benefit should be based on the annual salary he was earning at the time of his diagnosis. The difference was more than $400 per week. With the help of a mesothelioma attorney, the widow prevailed.
• A widow in Ohio who lost her husband to asbestos-related lung cancer, filed a workers’ compensation claim against General Motors, pointing to his years of occupational exposure. Though the company argued that his illness had been caused by his cigarette smoking habit, the Court of Appeals of Ohio decided in the widow’s favor, awarding her benefits based on her presentation of evidence that his asbestos exposure would have exacerbated his risk of illness.
• A retired high school teacher in Kentucky filed a workers’ compensation claim against the school board he’d worked for after he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. Roger Hall remembered a period when he and other teachers were required to use the school’s boiler room for breaks and being exposed to asbestos there and in other ways in the school’s buildings, but the school board denied his claim as time-barred. The Workers’ Compensation Board in Kentucky reversed the board’s decision and, after the Board of Education appealed, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky upheld the decision and allowed him to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

The Challenge of Timing: Mesothelioma’s Latency Period vs. Statutes of Limitations

The significant difference between the amount of time it takes for mesothelioma to appear, and workers’ compensation deadlines, represents a significant challenge for many patients: If a worker was exposed to asbestos in the 1970s but wasn’t diagnosed with mesothelioma until 2025, they are obviously far beyond the standard one- to three-year filing window. Many states, including Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, have addressed this issue by introducing special rules and extended deadlines for mesothelioma and similar diseases.[3]

Workers’ compensation claims are far more reasonable for other asbestos-related conditions since many of them have shorter latency periods, and their symptoms may manifest while a worker is still employed or recently retired. 

Benefits of Workers’ Compensation for Mesothelioma Victims

For those who qualify, workers’ compensation can provide several valuable benefits:[1]

Medical Expense Coverage

Workers’ compensation can help pay for medical treatments, which is helpful given the high cost of mesothelioma care. This may include:

• Diagnostic tests
• Surgeries
• Chemotherapy and radiation treatments
• Prescription medications
• Hospital stays
• Travel expenses for specialized treatment

Replacement Income

Though most mesothelioma patients have retired by the time their illness appears, workers’ compensation disability payments can replace a portion of lost wages for those who are still employed but unable to work because of their illness. This may include:

• Temporary disability payments during treatment
• Permanent disability payments if the employee can’t go back to work
• Partial disability payments for those whose return to work is limited by their illness.

Benefits for Family Members

If a former worker dies from mesothelioma, workers’ compensation may provide:

• Funeral and burial expense coverage
• Ongoing financial support for dependents
• Coverage for medical expenses incurred before death

Limitations of Workers’ Compensation for Mesothelioma

Despite its potential benefits, workers’ compensation has significant limitations for mesothelioma victims:

Limited Compensation Amounts

Compared to the other legal options available to mesothelioma victims, workers’ compensation only provides modest benefits. State laws usually have fixed maximum amounts for specific injuries or illnesses, and in the face of the high costs of treating mesothelioma, the severity of the disease, the shortened life expectancy, and the extensive pain and suffering involved, these limits may make the value of pursuing a claim questionable, especially when other sources of compensation have significantly greater potential.

Exclusive Remedy Provision

Most states’ workers’ compensation programs operate under an “exclusive remedy” provision, meaning that by accepting workers’ compensation, employees waive their right to sue their employer for the same injury or illness. This has the potential to significantly impact the compensation they receive.

No Compensation for Pain and Suffering

Unlike lawsuits, workers’ compensation does not provide damages for:[1]

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Punitive damages against negligent employers

These non-economic damages often represent a significant portion of the verdicts that juries award in mesothelioma lawsuits, as well as the out-of-court settlements that many victims’ attorneys negotiate. 

Steps to Filing a Workers’ Compensation Claim for Mesothelioma

If you choose to file for workers’ compensation, the filing process typically involves:

1. Promptly notifying your employer about your diagnosis and its connection to workplace asbestos exposure
2. Completing the claim forms provided by your employer or getting the appropriate forms from your state’s workers’ compensation board
3. Gathering all medical documentation confirming your diagnosis
4. Providing evidence of workplace exposure through your employment records, witness statements, and other documentation

An asbestos attorney can help you with navigating the claims process and will be especially important if your claim is disputed. 

When Workers Compensation Claims for Mesothelioma Are Disputed

Workers’ compensation claims for mesothelioma are frequently disputed by employers or insurance carriers. Their basis for denying the claims generally falls into one of the following categories:

• Questioning whether your exposure actually occurred in their workplace
• Arguing that the statute of limitations has expired
• Suggesting that other factors, such as smoking, caused your illness

When a claim is disputed, applicants generally need to attend hearings before a workers’ compensation judge, present testimony from medical experts, and file appeals to a workers’ compensation appeals board.

Workers’ Compensation vs. Other Legal Options

When comparing workers’ compensation to other legal options, there are several very important differences. These include:

Workers’ Compensation vs. Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Filing a personal injury lawsuit against asbestos manufacturers, suppliers, and others involved in exposing mesothelioma victims to asbestos offers many important advantages:

• The potential for significantly higher compensation ($1-2.4 million average for settlements and verdicts)
• Compensation for pain and suffering
• Possibility of punitive damages against companies whose behavior was particularly reckless or showed disregard for victims’ wellbeing
• Longer statutes of limitations (typically 1-3 years from diagnosis rather than from exposure)

Still, lawsuits also have disadvantages:

• Potentially lengthy legal process (months to years)
• Less certainty of outcome
• More demanding requirements surrounding evidence 

Workers’ Compensation vs. Asbestos Trust Fund Claims

There is a total of roughly $30 billion available in the many asbestos trust funds that companies bankrupted by their asbestos liabilities were required to set up for the benefit of people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases in the future. In addition to an average compensation of approximately $180,000, filing a claim with these funds offers additional benefits:

• Faster processing than lawsuits (typically months rather than years)
• Evidence requirements are easier to meet than what is required for a lawsuit
• No need to prove negligence

Also, unlike workers’ compensation, trust fund claims don’t require meeting strict occupational injury deadlines and aren’t subject to the same state-specific limitations.

Special Considerations for Military Veterans and Federal Workers

Veterans’ Benefits

Veterans who developed mesothelioma from military asbestos exposure may be eligible for:

• VA disability compensation
• Special monthly compensation
• Healthcare benefits
• Dependency and indemnity compensation for survivors

These benefits can be pursued alongside other compensation options, unlike workers’ compensation.

Federal Employee Compensation

Federal employees diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases fall under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), administered by the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. This system has its own specific requirements and benefits structure that are different from state workers’ compensation programs.[4]

Navy veterans and civilian shipyard workers may also be eligible for compensation under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation program. This program offers specialized benefits for maritime workers.

Is Workers’ Compensation a Good Option for Mesothelioma Victims?

Given everything discussed above, filing a workers’ compensation claim is rarely the best choice for mesothelioma patients, and many don’t consider it worth the effort required. In most cases, pursuing a combination of the following options yields better financial results:

1. Filing a personal injury mesothelioma lawsuit against the manufacturers and suppliers of the asbestos products you were exposed to
2. Filing a claim against any asbestos trust funds set up by bankrupt companies whose products you were exposed to
3. Filing a claim for VA benefits if you are a veteran who was exposed to asbestos during your military service
4. Filing a Social Security Disability Insurance claim if you are of working age but unable to work because of your asbestos-related illness

Alternatively, workers’ compensation may be worth pursuing if your situation falls into one of these categories:

• You are diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness shortly after your exposure
• When the statute of limitations hasn’t expired
• When other compensation options are limited
• As a supplementary source of benefits alongside other claims

What Is Your Best Option for Compensation?

Given how stressful dealing with an asbestos-related disease is on its own, the best way to deal with the complexities of seeking compensation is to consult with an experienced mesothelioma attorney. These compassionate, knowledgeable professionals will review your complete work history to identify all the places you may have been exposed to asbestos, check your eligibility for the various compensation options available, figure out all possible deadlines for filing claims based on your diagnosis date and relevant statutes of limitations, and explain the process and strategy that will maximize your potential compensation and benefits.