Mesothelioma is a fatal and rare form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. While the vast majority of those diagnosed with the disease trace their exposure to their work environment, there are also many victims exposed by living with people who carried asbestos fibers home on their clothing. People sickened by what is known as second-hand or take-home exposure have successfully pursued compensation from their loved ones’ workplaces, accusing them of a failure to uphold their duty of care. But different states have different legal perspectives on whether take-home asbestos exposure constitutes negligence.
Mesothelioma Blamed on Laundering Clothes, Embracing Family Members
Mesothelioma victims who suffered second-hand asbestos exposure are those who laundered their spouse’s work clothes or who greeted and hugged their fathers when they returned home from work. They rode in cars that their family members drove or worked in eating establishments where those who worked with asbestos took their lunch breaks.
Unfortunately for those who have been afflicted with mesothelioma, there is no clear or overriding precedent for whether their family members’ employers can be held legally responsible for their illness. Some have ruled in favor of victim and others have held that there is no duty of care owed to those who are not employee.
The States that Have Favored Second-Hand Mesothelioma Victims
The states where courts have determined that employers do have a duty of care based on the foreseeability that asbestos fibers would be carried home and potentially lead to mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases include:
- Alabama – The 11th Circuit affirmed a U.S. District Court’s decision that employers owed a duty of care to a woman who laundered her husband’s work clothes and who was exposed to asbestos from her father’s work.
- California – The California Supreme Court held in two cases that employers and premises owners have a duty to exercise ordinary care in their use of asbestos, including asbestos carried by the bodies and clothing of workers.
- Delaware – The Delaware Supreme Court ruled that a household member who regularly launders an employee’s asbestos-covered clothing can sue her spouse’s employer for failure to provide warnings and safe laundering instructions.
- Indiana – Though the courts initially denied a claim from an insulator’s wife sickened by asbestos residue carried into her home, that decision was reverse under the Indiana Product Liability Act.
- Louisiana – In multiple cases the courts held that a duty plausibly existed to the mesothelioma victim because it was foreseeable that they could be exposed to asbestos from their family members’ clothing.
- New Jersey – The New Jersey Supreme Court determined that a landowner had a derivative duty to the spouses of workers for whom there was a foreseeable risk of exposure to asbestos.
- Tennessee – In a case involving a young woman exposed to asbestos from her father’s work clothes, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that a duty of reasonable care exists whenever a defendant’s conduct poses an unreasonable and foreseeable risk of harm.
- Utah – The Utah Supreme Court determined that premises operators owe a duty of care to a worker’s co-habitants, and that if they launch an instrument of harm involving workers then there was no need to establish a separate duty of care for those they live with.
- Virginia – The Virginia Supreme Court agreed that an employer owes a duty of care to an employee’s family member for take-home asbestos exposure.
- Washington – Though the state’s appellate court ruled that an employer had a duty to prevent a woman’s exposure to asbestos carried into her home on her husband’s work clothes, the 9th Circuit qualified that decision, saying that once the initial determination of legal duty has been established, juries need to determine whether the danger was foreseeable.
If you have been exposed to asbestos on a loved one’s clothing and need information on your rights, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
