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You Know? |
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Asbestos medical
recordkeeping standards are 30 years
The employer must keep an accurate record of all exposure
measurements taken to monitor employee exposure to asbestos. This
record must be kept for 30 years. The employer also must maintain
an accurate record for each employee subject to medical
surveillance. This record must be maintained for the duration of
employment plus 30 years.
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Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been
proven to cause cancer and numerous other diseases when inhaled
or ingested. Asbestos is most commonly found in older homes, in
pipe and furnace insulation materials, asbestos shingles,
millboard, textured paints and other coating materials, and floor
tiles. It was common practice to add asbestos to a variety of
products to strengthen them and to provide heat insulation and
fire resistance.
Are you seeking information
regarding Boston asbestos laws? If so, contact one of our Boston asbestos
attorneys today!
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 Occupational Lung Disease Deaths by Cond |
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Lung Disease Deaths by
Condition, 1987-1996 in Massachusetts
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| Asbestosis |
3.98 |
| CWP |
0.10 |
| Silicosis |
0.32 |
| Byssinosis |
0.03 |
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Unspecified/Other |
0.26 |
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AllPneumo-conioses |
4.66 |
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| Source: National
Surveillance System for Pneumoconioses Mortality, CDC |
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Nearly 1.3 million American industrial
and construction employees in states including Boston face
significant asbestos exposure while working. Air ducts,
ventilation systems, furnace ducts, floor tiles, door gaskets,
soundproofing materials, cement sheets, millboards, artificial
ashes and embers, patching and joint compounds, fireproof gloves,
stovetop pads, and automobile brake pads are only some of the
many places you can find asbestos.
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Boston Verdicts and Settlements |
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| Largest Verdicts &
Settlements 2006 Bench awards of $1 million and more) |
| 1. $9.38 MILLION ($15
million with interest) Bourque v. O'Dea Suffolk Superior Court,
No. 01-1960 Date of verdict: July 18, 2006 Plaintiff's counsel:
Jeffrey N. Roy and Paul E. Ravech, Ravech & Roy, Boston The
plaintiff went with friends to a small bar. Despite the fact that
they were minors, they were not asked for identification. Each
had at least four to five beers and two mixed drinks. The driver
drank even more. The driver, with the plaintiff in the passenger
seat, began driving erratically and traveling in excess of 60
mph. The driver failed to negotiate one of the curves and wrapped
the car around a telephone pole on the passenger side. The driver
was charged with operating under the influence, but he went to
Ireland to escape prosecution. The plaintiff alleged that the
defendants were negligent in serving alcohol to the driver. The
plaintiff sustained a significant intracranial injury. The
plaintiff obtained the judgment against the driver following a
$3.4 million settlement against the defendant bar. 2. $8.75
MILLION ($12.5 million with interest) Milliken & Company v. Duro
Textiles, LLC Bristol Superior Court, No. BRCV2002-01364 Date of
verdict: June 12, 2006 Plaintiff's counsel: Jeffrey Upton, Hanify
& King, Boston Judge E. Susan Garsh held a successor company
liable for the debts of its predecessor company under the de
facto merger and continuation theories of successor liability.
The successor company was established by the owners/secured
lenders of the predecessor company to purchase the assets of the
predecessor company and continue the business following a U.C.C.
Article 9 foreclosure sale by the owners/secured lenders. 3. $5
MILLION Instrument Industries Trust v. Danaher, et al. Suffolk
Superior Court Business Litigation Session, No. 2003-3960 Date of
verdict: Feb. 27, 2006 Plaintiff's counsel: Daniel J. Lyne and
Christopher M. Morrison, Hanify & King, Boston The plaintiff sold
all of the operating assets of New England Affiliated
Technologies to Kollmorgen Corp., which was later acquired by the
defendant. The transaction contained a three-year earn-out
provision to be triggered in circumstances where "any portion of
the business is merged or consolidated without the Seller's
consent." The seller maintained that certain of the operating
assets were integrated into the business of the buyer's affiliate
and insisted that a triggering event occurred and that the
deferred purchase price had been earned. The buyer asserted that
the integration of operations post-sale was not material to the
performance of the business and was not within the terms of the
trigger clause. Judge Allan van Gestel concluded that the parties
intended the term "merge or consolidate" in their less
formalistic sense, because they had acquired only assets. 4. $3.1
MILLION Estate of John L. McIntyre, etc. v. United States of
America, et al. U.S. District Court, No. 01-10408-RCL Date of
verdict: Sept. 5, 2006 Plaintiffs' counsel: Steven M. Gordon and
William E. Christie, Shaheen & Gordon, Concord, N.H.; Jeffrey A.
Denner, Denner Pellegrino, Boston Judge Reginald C. Lindsay
awarded $3.1 million to the family of a man who was allegedly
killed by fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, ruling that the
federal government was liable for the man's death because a
former FBI agent leaked his identity to Bulger. The man's family
alleged he was killed by Bulger after a former FBI agent tipped
off Bulger that the man had talked to agents in an investigation
of Bulger and his cohort's involvement in a failed plan to send
guns to the Irish Republican Army. The judge found that the FBI
agent was the "proximate cause" of the man's death. 5. $2.2
MILLION Springfield Education Association, et al. v. Springfield
School Committee, et al. Hampden Superior Court, No. 03-1035 Date
of verdict: April 24, 2006 (amended final judgment) Plaintiff's
counsel: Sandra C. Quinn, Boston Judge Constance M. Sweeney
ordered the City of Springfield to pay public school teachers and
administrators $2.2 million in back wages, plus 12-percent
compound interest and court costs for illegally freezing wages.
The wage freeze had been implemented by former Mayor Michael J.
Albano. 6. $1.7 MILLION ($2.5 million with interest) Jakubek v.
Mason Middlesex Superior Court, No. 2002-2869 Date of verdict:
July 7, 2006 Plaintiff's counsel: Charles M. Waters, Todd & Weld,
Boston Judge Kenneth J. Fishman found a Lowell attorney deceived
his client for nine years about the status of his case. The
client's insurance carrier was awarded summary judgment because
the complaint filed by the attorney was barred by the statute of
limitations. After an appeal was rejected by the Supreme Judicial
Court, the attorney made repeated misrepresentations in his
meetings with the client regarding the status of claims. The
client eventually filed suit against the attorney. Fishman
awarded the client $700,000 in emotional distress damages,
doubled the award and found the attorney's conduct was "extreme
and outrageous." 7. $1 MILLION Perez v. Greenidge Suffolk
Superior Court, No. 05-0963A Date of verdict: Jan. 4, 2006
Plaintiff's counsel: Keith P. Slattery and Neil Burns, Law Office
of Neil Burns, Boston Judge Elizabeth M. Fahey ruled that a woman
who was assaulted, battered and raped by a corrections officer
was entitled to $500,000 in damages, doubled under Chapter 93A,
plus interest and attorneys' fees, for a total in excess of $1
million, after the attorney she retained failed to prosecute her
case. As a result of the attorney's failure to prosecute, summary
judgment was granted against the plaintiff, without objection.
The defendant attorney filed a motion for reconsideration, which
was allowed, yet the attorney still failed to prosecute the
plaintiff's case and a motion for judgment on pleadings was
allowed. The attorney allegedly entertained a series of pranks
leading the plaintiff to believe that her case was still alive.
7. $1 MILLION Estate of Lawrence Moretti Suffolk Probate & Family
Court, No. 91P-0672 Date of verdict: Sept. 6, 2006 Plaintiff's
counsel: Robert J. O'Regan and Diane A.D. Noel, Burns & Levinson,
Boston Judge Nancy A. Gould found that a home health aide took
advantage of his 84-year-old handicapped client. The defendant
allegedly had a new will signed and isolated the client from his
friends. He terminated his client's longtime lawyer, obtained a
power of attorney and took charge of managing finances. The judge
found that the defendant used his client's money to pay for
personal needs, took other large sums of cash, and had used a
power of attorney to find out the details of his client's
finances and then gain control over them. Gould rejected the
defendant's claim that his client executed a new will to him out
of gratitude for faithful care. |
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There are six different fibrous minerals
that are associated with asbestos. They are amosite, chrysotile,
crocidolite, and the fibrous varieties of tremolite, actinolite,
and anthophyllite. These mineral fibers are harmful if ingested
in any manner, so it is best not to handle material with asbestos
without being shielded by a protective covering.
The two most common diseases that occur
as a result of asbestos exposure are:
Mesothelioma is a malignant cancer where
cancerous cells line the patient's body cavities such as the
chest, abdominal region or the area surrounding the heart.
Asbestosis is a cancer of the lining of the chest and the
abdominal cavity.
Other cases involving asbestos and
asbestos related issues include:
- Lymph Nodes & Organ Problems
- Stage IV Mesothelioma
- Asbestos & Mesothelioma
- Pleural Disease
- Cancer & Asbestos
- Malignment Meso
- Mesothelioma Tumors
- Plural Calcifications
- Pericardial Mesothelioma
- Epithelioid Type
- Sarcomatoid Type
If you have ever been exposed to asbestos
either directly or indirectly, you may need an attorney
specializing in the field of Asbestos and Asbestos related
litigation.
Are you seeking information
regarding Boston asbestos laws? If so, contact one of our Boston asbestos lawyer
today!
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W.R. Grace Charged in Asbestos Case
AUDIO, RM,
48kbps, 45:00.0, 2/8/2005
The chemical company W.R. Grace is charged with knowingly
exposing mine workers and residents of a small Montana town to
asbestos
Source: NPR |
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 MA DEP:
Asbestos
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection logo ...
Discussion Document on Asbestos-Containing Joint Compound
(ACJC):Recommendations Regard
MA DEP Household Hazardous Products -
Asbestos
Asbestos image: skull Hazards * Microscopic asbestos fibers from
friable (loose or crumbling) asbestos can be suspended in air and
inhaled. Once inhaled, fibers remain in lungs, causing lung
cancer. * Asbestos may be found in pipe insulation and insulating
boards, textured wall surfaces, electrical equipment, floor and
roofing tiles and certain adhesives image: hand Handling * If
asbestos is in good condition, and fibers are not exposed, it
does not need to be removed. * Slightly damaged or loose asbestos
can be re-wrapped rather than removed. * Asbestos should be
handled by a certified asbestos abatement contractor (call
Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development at
800-425-0004 for list of licensed abatement contractors). *
MassDEP requires notification at least 10 business days prior to
any asbestos removal activities. * All asbestos containing
materials must be containerized, labeled and removed in
accordance with MassDEP regulations. Asbestos must be adequately
wetted so that fibers will not be released, and sealed in
leak-tight, properly labeled containers. If bags are used, they
should be thick plastic (6 mil) and double bagged. The same
handling procedures are required for contaminated clothes and
equipment. Container must then be labeled with an OSHA approved
asbestos warning label. * Do not dust, sweep or vacuum particles
suspected of containing asbestos. image: balloon Management
Options * All asbestos materials must be disposed of in landfills
permitted to receive asbestos. Currently there are no such
permitted landfills in Massachusetts. If you need to find a
landfill that will accept asbestos waste, please call the
asbestos staff person in your region for assistance *
Asbestos-containing asphalt roofing materials and vinyl asbestos
floor tiles that are not broken and are removed in accordance
with MassDEP regulations can be disposed of in designated solid
waste landfills. * Asbestos containing materials should never be
disposed of in a combustion facility or compacted because fibers
may be released to the surrounding area. * For more information,
visit the MassDEP Asbestos home page, or contact a MassDEP
regional asbestos expert:
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