December 6, 2016 Waters Kraus & Paul partner fights for client sickened by take-home asbestos exposure, wins precedent-setting ruling in which the Calif. Supreme Court recognizes employer’s / company’s duty to prevent take-home asbestos exposure.
LOS ANGELES – In a unanimous decision by the justices of the California Supreme Court, employers and premises owners may be held liable if asbestos from a job site sickens someone in a worker’s home. This means that companies have a duty to protect their worker’s family and household members from asbestos that is brought home on work clothes. The ruling was handed down on Dec. 1, 2016.
The Lynne Haver case is one of two reviewed by the state’s high court in deciding this ruling. Michael Gurien, a partner at Waters Kraus & Paul in the firm’s Los Angeles office, said the justices’ ruling “rightfully recognizes that employers and landowners can be held legally responsible for the devastating injuries and deaths suffered by household members of workers from the negligent and careless use of asbestos in the workplace.” Mr. Gurien represents Lynne Haver’s family in their asbestos lawsuit on her behalf. Lynne Haver died of mesothelioma caused by asbestos brought home on her ex-husband’s work clothes.
You can find additional coverage on the ruling by The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg BNA. Learn more about our mesothelioma and asbestos practice.
