Barbara Bobo died of malignant mesothelioma on the 16th anniversary of her husband’s death from lung cancer induced by asbestosis. Before her death she filed a personal injury lawsuit against her late husband’s employer, the Tennessee Valley Authority, accusing them of negligently exposing her to asbestos carried home on her husband’s work clothing. When her daughters continued her case, a bench trial was held to decide the matter. The judge in the case agreed that the company had owed Mrs. Bobo a duty of care and had breached that duty. They awarded her survivors $3 million in damages for pain and suffering and the full amount of her medical expenses.
Woman’s Mesothelioma Blamed on Take-Home Asbestos Exposure
According to evidence presented during the bench trial, the mesothelioma victim’s husband had worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant from April 1975 through September 1997, when he died from lung cancer induced by asbestosis. He held several different jobs for the plant, all of which exposed him to asbestos that he carried home on his clothing each night.
The court heard testimony that Mrs. Bobo had experienced non-occupational exposure to asbestos during the 22 years that her husband had worked at the nuclear plant, both through laundering his work clothes and from traveling in the family car. Testimony was submitted that she had washed his clothes twice a week, and that every day she had picked up his dirty clothing and carried it into the washroom, where she would shake off the dust to the point where the room became “foggy.” There was also testimony that the company’s air monitoring practices failed to meet OSHA monitoring requirements.
Judge’s Decision Cites Foreseeability of Injury to Mesothelioma Victim
In handing down its decision, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama agreed with the mesothelioma victim’s family that “employers of persons exposed to airborne asbestos fibers during the performance of their work responsibilities owe a duty of reasonable care to non-employees in take-home asbestos cases based on the foreseeability of injury from any exposure to that inherently dangerous toxic substance.”
The court awarded the mesothelioma victim’s survivors a total of $3 million in damages for the pain and suffering that she had endured, and also ordered the defendant to compensate the family for the medical expenses that she had incurred despite the fact that they had almost all been paid for by health insurance and Medicare, totaling $537,131.82.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.
