After she was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, Verna Brewer filed a personal injury lawsuit against her late husband’s former employer, BOC Group, Inc. She blames asbestos carried home on his clothing after work each day for her illness, but the company believes that her asbestos exposure came in subsequent years, after his death. The company petitioned the court for work and medical records for each of her husbands, with mixed results.
Multiple Marriages and Workplaces Complicates Mesothelioma Claim
According to Mrs. Brewer’s mesothelioma claim, she suffered secondary asbestos exposure to her late husband Nelson Dwayne Dotson’s asbestos-contaminated clothing during their fifteen-year marriage, between 1958 and 1973. After his accidental death, she married Thomas Reeves in 1975, but that marriage lasted just a few months. Mr. Reeves is now deceased. In 1982, the widow remarried James David Brewer, and their marriage lasted thirty-seven years until his death in 2020.
Upon being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, Mrs. Brewer filed suit against Mr. Dotson’s former employer for having exposed her to asbestos, but the company believes that both of her subsequent husbands were also exposed to asbestos during her marriages to them. The companies requested all three men’s employment records and medical records and Mrs. Brewer objected.
Judge Denies Some Records Requests, Grants Others in Mesothelioma Claim
Upon review of the company’s request, Magistrate Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl of the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Kentucky granted some of the company’s requests but denied others. He issued an order directing the Social Security Administration to release the work records about Mrs. Brewer’s prior husbands. Still, he refused to issue a broad order to the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims, indicating that the defendant needed to follow the standard process of issuing a subpoena to the agency and then issuing an order later if the subpoena was rejected.
A mesothelioma diagnosis is the beginning of a long and challenging journey. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed and need information on your rights, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608 for experienced professional guidance.
