No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Montana Asbestos Law May Change

Some politicians can’t stand the sight of justice. They feel a need to get involved and make things more difficult, if not impossible, for those getting the compensation they deserve. Why let judges and juries decide outcomes when legislatures can choose for them? Montana is just one example.

We Couldn’t Allow Plaintiffs to Win, Could We?

Its House passed legislation in February could jeopardize hundreds of contamination and wrongful death lawsuits related to the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, reports the Daily Inter Lake.

Several attorneys testified at a February House Judiciary Committee Hearing that three bills in the legislature would make it harder for citizens to sue large corporations, including BNSF Railway.

Anthony Nicastro, a Republican representing Billings, knows what it takes to make the company happy. He’s not just a member of the legislature and sponsoring all three bills, he’s an attorney who has represented the company. Cases he’s worked on include several involving potential liability for more than 3,000 asbestos-related deaths and illnesses in Northwest Montana.

Blaming a Bankrupt Company for Harm You Cause is Like Blaming a Corpse – You’ll Get No Argument from Them

BNSF rail cars transported asbestos-contaminated vermiculture from a mine owned by W.R. Grace (which is now bankrupt) to downtown Libby, exposing thousands of residents to cancer-causing asbestos fibers.

Last year, a federal jury found that BNSF contributed to two residents’ deaths and awarded their next of kin $4 million in compensatory damages. Hundreds more cases against the railway are pending so changes in the law could have a significant impact.

Because it no longer exists, W.R. Grace was not a party to last year’s trial. House Bill 303 would allow BNSF to blame W.R. Grace for the asbestos-caused disease and deaths, even though evidence at the trial showed BNSF was aware of asbestos’ dangers and failed to take sufficient precautions to protect town residents.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys state BNSF was found guilty not because of W.R. Grace, but because it maintained an abnormally dangerous condition on its property. The risks of having it were realized when residents became sickened and died due to the resulting asbestos exposure.

House Bill 302 would require a second trial for plaintiffs to receive punitive damages. House Bill 301 would create a two-year statute of limitation for property damage claims. All three bills passed the House.

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