Tiger Brands Faces Talc Asbestos Litigation

Industrial Talc and R.T. Vanderbilt (Podcast)

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In this podcast, Paul Kelley explains how asbestos exposure happened in R.T. Vanderbilt talc mines. Then, he talks about the companies that bought the talc powder and how their employees were exposed. Finally, he explains what to do if you have contracted mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure in talc mines.

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher, and I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm Satterley & Kelley, which has over 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today, we’re talking about industrial talc and R.T. Vanderbilt. Welcome Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hi, John. How are you doing today?

John: Good, thanks. How are you?

Paul: Doing well.

What Is R.T. Vanderbilt?

John: What is R.T. Vanderbilt? What do they do?

Paul: R.T. Vanderbilt historically is a company that has mined and sold talc, predominantly for a couple of different products, the manufacture of tile and for the manufacture of paint products.

Asbestos Exposure in Talc Mining

John: Okay. How is R.T. Vanderbilt then related to mesothelioma cancer cases?

Paul: Well, unfortunately, R.T. Vanderbilt’s talc, which was mined in upstate New York, called the Gouverneur Talc Mines, R.T. Vanderbilt Talc was contaminated with asbestos. It takes a little bit of background concerning talc to completely understand this process, but talc is a natural rock.

It grows in the earth, and there are talc deposits all over the world. We have several in the United States. It gets mined, and lots of times, talc is mined, in areas where asbestos is also formed. Asbestos is just a rock, too. It’s a naturally occurring mineral. There are different forms of it, and it also gets mined in various parts of the world. There are talc mines that are contaminated with asbestos.

Terminology is important, but basically, when they go and they scoop the talc out of the earth, they are also scooping asbestos from those mines. They take the talc, and this is very simplistic, but it goes to a milling center, and it gets milled, and then they sell it. They package it and sell it to their customers.

Industries That Use Talc Powder From R.T. Vanderbilt

John: They grind it up into a powder, and then they package that up?

Paul: Absolutely right. During that process, when they’re grinding up the talc, there definitely is asbestos that is included in that process. When they sell it to the customers, the customers are getting a product that contains not only talc, but also contains asbestos.

R.T. Vanderbilt has operated these talc mines in New York, I think maybe going back to the 20s or 30s, but certainly 40s, 50s, and all the way into the 2000s. I think they finally stopped operating that talc mine within the last 10, 15 years. They sold to the tile industry companies that manufactured floor tile, ceiling tile. They sold to the paint industry. A lot of industrial paints would use the talc for various purposes. It was a heat-resistant material. Sometimes it was important in industrial plants to have some sort of heat resistance.

Sometimes they sold talc to places that needed to use it as a lubricant. Let’s take a company that manufactures steel products that would be molded, or plastic products that would be molded. They would use the talc to dust the molds, so when the product came out, it didn’t stick to the metal. Unfortunately, there have been a number of people, and when I say a number, I mean dozens of people who worked in the Gouverneur R.T. Vanderbilt talc mines that have developed mesothelioma. Talc by itself, uncontaminated talc, there’s no evidence it causes mesothelioma, or any type of cancer.

However, talc contaminated with asbestos has been proven to cause mesothelioma. Honestly, part of the proof is what’s occurred in New York, with RTV talc mines. That was one of the first locations, talc mine locations where it was really recognized that this was becoming a problem. Mesothelioma, it’s a very rare disease. There are only about 3,000 people in the United States that are diagnosed with that cancer each year. If you start to see more than one person diagnosed with that cancer who worked at the same place, it’s evidence that there may be a problem at that place. There may be a source of exposure other than at that place, because it’s very rare for one location to have more than one mesothelioma, if any.

Asbestos Exposure at R.T. Vanderbilt Talc Mines

John: There’s so few cases that it would just be a huge coincidence that you’d have two people working in the same place that would get it.

Paul: It really would be, unless they were exposed there. With respect to the R.T. Vanderbilt talc mines, by the early 2000s, there were published studies of at least 10 people who had worked at the Gouverneur talc mine who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Scientists started to conduct more research, and ultimately concluded that they received that diagnosis as a result of the work that they performed in that mine, and with respect to the milling process. In addition to that, certainly people that have used R.T. Vanderbilt’s talc to manufacture the products that we’ve discussed, the paint products, the talc products, the things that the talc was put into, they’ve been diagnosed with the disease as well. Again, these are situations where the only known exposure was to talc.

R.T. Vanderbilt will disagree, they’ve fought these cases for years. If I filed a new one today, they would deny it aggressively, and vehemently deny and defend the case. I believe that the evidence is on our side, that its talc contains asbestos, and that it has caused dozens, if not hundreds of people to contract mesothelioma and other asbestos cancers.

Industrial Talc Vs. Talcum Powder

John: Now, you mentioned that what R.T. Vanderbilt mined was what we’re calling industrial talc. It was sold to other companies for various uses. Is there any difference between that industrial talc and what we might call commercial talc, that we think of as talcum powder, or body powder?

Paul: I really don’t think so. I don’t think that there is much of a difference, really. Now, I will preface this by saying, as far as I know, R.T. Vanderbilt has only sold its talc to industry, for some of the products that we’ve talked about. That having been said, really, the predominant difference between industrial talc and cosmetic or commercial talc, if we want to make that difference, is the milling process.

They mill it a little bit differently. They’re probably a little bit less concerned with the purity of an industrial talc versus a cosmetic talc, because it’s not intended to go onto somebody’s body. There have been other instances, other companies that have been involved in talc mining, where talc from the same mines have been sold for both purposes, sold for cosmetic talc to be put in body powders and things like that, and then sold to industry.

They’ll maybe suggest that, “We mine different areas of the talc for industrial purposes, and different areas for cosmetic,” but that’s really just an argument. It really has to do with the milling process and what they’re willing for the final product to be in terms of other elements that are still within the talc. For cosmetic talcum powders, they want it to be as pure as it can, we’ve talked about this in other contexts, that contain asbestos, but they process it differently. With industrial talc, they’re less concerned about other elements, and other constituents in the talc, because its purpose is just a lot different than talc sold for cosmetic purposes.

Who Was Exposed to Asbestos Due to R.T. Vanderbilt?

John: You mentioned that obviously, the miners who worked for R.T. Vanderbilt at the talc mine would’ve been potentially exposed to asbestos. Were other people who worked for R.T. Vanderbilt potentially exposed as well? Who else used this industrial talc product that they made?

Paul: In terms of the people that worked for R.T. Vanderbilt, it’s not going to be limited to the miners. There wasn’t anything special about the miners that made them particularly susceptible to developing disease. It’s people that worked at the mine, and they’d have a lot of people that worked at the mine for various reasons.

You have all that equipment there that is used to conduct the mining, and they would have electricians, maintenance folks and mechanics that worked on the equipment. They’re there all day, every day. They’re exposed to the same things. You certainly would have the supervisors and managers, product designers and folks that are spending a lot of time at the plant, or at the mine, and then people that were involved out of the mine in the milling process.

Again, we talked about it, that product ultimately is going to be ground up and processed, and sold. It’s got to be packaged. People that are involved in the shipping process, typically customers that bought this talc, they bought so much of it, it didn’t go out in a semi-truck. It went out in a rail car. They put tons, tens of tons into rail cars when they shipped it out. I know people are familiar with the gondola cars that don’t have a top on them, just dump it in like it’s a big basket, and that’s what they would do.

Somebody’s got to process all of that, and make sure that the paperwork lines up. They’re making these shipments every day, every week.

John: I think it gets shipped in those paper bags, almost like a bag of cement. I think of when I get a bag of cement, you get that cement dust all over your hands because it’s not sealed properly. It just leaks out all over the place. The people who are handling those on a daily basis, and tossing them into the backs of trucks or something like that, there’s got to be a lot of dust flying up in the air.

Paul: Absolutely. They sold and packaged those in different ways. Some of these plants bought so much of it, they just literally put the talc itself into a rail car, and then it would get to a facility, and that facility would have some sort of a receptacle to put it all in. Other places would get it in barrels, they’d get it in bags. These bags weren’t intended to keep out dust, people had to put the material in the bags. There were a lot of different ways, and it wasn’t just limited to the miners.

Now, the studies have been related to miners, because they’re the easiest to study for sure, but guaranteed, there have been numerous people that have been involved in the process, that have been exposed and developed cancer as it relates to R.T. Vanderbilt employees.

Again, all of the customers who used the product, and we’ve talked about it I think in some prior podcasts, John, there was a company in Kentucky, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky called Florida Tile. Florida Tile made a lot of tile products, floor tile products, and they had a big plant here, probably about 40 miles from where I’m sitting right now. They made lots and lots and lots and lots of tile, and they used hoppers to pour talc into, and it manufactured the products, and they mixed it up with other ingredients, for decades, it’s all they did all day, every day. It was a tile plant.

The people who mixed the talc with the other ingredients were heavily exposed. People who inspected the product when it came in, they had people at that plant who tested, they did their own purity checks. They’d have to take scoops of the product, take it into a very small, enclosed area, pour it into beakers and other pieces of equipment, so they could make sure that it met their purity standards. Those people were exposed.

We had people who were inspectors of the final tile products, and they frequently broke the tile, there was exposure when that happened. They cut the tile to make sure that it did what it needed to do, and they were heavily exposed. We have people who worked in industrial plants where they used paint, and so again, they would pour bags or barrels of talc into the paint, and mix it up. When you’re pouring it in, people are getting heavily exposed from that process.

Like every other asbestos product, people were exposed in the home, from their family members who worked in a tile facility, or worked in a paint facility, or worked at the talc mine. They’re exposed to the asbestos contaminated clothing that they brought home, and brought in their car, their vehicle. It was one of those things that it was a really well-kept secret by industry. I hate to single out R.T. Vanderbilt, because quite frankly, the entire talc industry, but we have unique experience with R.T. Vanderbilt.

We filed a lawsuit against it several years ago. My partner, Joe Satterley, took it to trial, got a verdict, a very nice verdict. One of R.T. Vanderbilt’s defenses was that, “Our product doesn’t contain asbestos, never has contained asbestos,” and they advertise it. Any of their customers that contact them to ask, they say, “Yeah, it doesn’t contain asbestos.” They don’t tell them that there’s a controversy over it. They don’t tell them, “A whole bunch of people that worked at our mines developed mesothelioma.”

Did R.T. Vanderbilt Warn the Public About Asbestos?

John: Right, it’s not like there’s a label on the box that says, “Contains asbestos.”

Paul: Or even, “Might contain asbestos,” or, “Some people say it contains asbestos.” They just say it doesn’t, and it doesn’t. There’s actually a good published opinion in Kentucky that my law firm was involved in, where the court strongly held R.T. Vanderbilt accountable for failing to at least advise customers and the public about the potential for asbestos contamination in its product.

It’s been something that’s been widespread with respect to all of the various talc companies that I’ve dealt with over the last 10 years or so, 15 years, they never admit that their product contained it, and they don’t tell anybody that it could, and people have been exposed unknowingly over the years. One of the big problems that we’ve seen is, it used to be that if a woman in particular showed up to a doctor’s office, and ultimately, the physicians diagnosed that woman with mesothelioma, a lot of doctors would have no clue what caused it, because historically, women didn’t work in occupational settings where there was asbestos exposure, and even then, who didn’t work as a traditional insulator, electrician, miller of asbestos. Lots of times, doctors didn’t know.

Well, the answer clearly is, talc contained asbestos for years, and there wasn’t widespread public information available for any physicians to ask the question. A lot of causes of mesothelioma went unknown or undetected because of the talc industry’s not only withholding of information, but active disinformation that it put out there. I didn’t necessarily mean for this to turn into a preach session on that, but it’s just a fact. Their denial that their products contain asbestos has led to countless deaths in the United States. It’s not unique to R.T. Vanderbilt, R.T. Vanderbilt just happens to be who we’re talking about today.

Does R.T. Vanderbilt Still Mine Talc?

John: Right. What’s the status of R.T. Vanderbilt now, as it relates to talc mining? It seems as though the Gouverneur Talc Mine was closed, I believe, in 2008. Is that correct?

Paul: Yeah, the exact year, I’m not exactly sure of, but it was around that time frame. Of course, they’ll tell you that it wasn’t because of lawsuits, or any health-based reasons. It was just a business decision. I think that we can safely assume that they got out because it was no longer profitable because of prior decisions that had been made.

By the way, there was a safe way that this product could have been used, for sure. It’s not your traditional asbestos product, and I think that people in the mines could have been protected. People in these manufacturing plants could have been protected, but they had to have the knowledge. R.T. Vanderbilt has stopped mining talc, and it’s gotten into other things. The good news is, at least as it relates to that company and the people in that area, they’re no longer being exposed to asbestos from the Gouverneur Talc Mines.

Steps to Take If You Have Mesothelioma

John: If you were an employee of R.T. Vanderbilt, or you used their industrial talc at another site, another company, and now you have mesothelioma, or asbestosis, or lung cancer, what should you do next?

Paul: In Kentucky, we have a pretty harsh statute of limitations. We have to file our lawsuit within a year that you know or should know that you have a disease, and what caused your disease. Obviously, people know immediately when they’re diagnosed with mesothelioma, but sometimes it’s not obvious as to what caused it. Feeding off what I said a moment ago, about how actively R.T. Vanderbilt and the talc industry withheld information concerning the constituent of its product.

We get people all the time, John, that worked as an accountant their entire life, or worked in some white collar job where they just had no occupational exposure, and nobody in their family did either, but maybe they worked at a tile plant for a period of time, and they just don’t know. That’s why it’s important to contact a lawyer who does know.

If somebody walked in my office today and said, “Mr. Kelley, I haven’t the slightest idea where I was exposed to asbestos, but for five years in the 1980s, I worked at this plant in Lawrenceburg, and I made tile.” Well, I know the answer to the question, and we can hit the ground running, and put a case on for you.

That’s important, because time is of the essence, and it’s not just because of that statute of limitations. Unfortunately, the average life expectancy of someone with mesothelioma is only about 12 to 18 months from the date of diagnosis. I hate to use terms like wasting time, because time is so precious, but time can’t be wasted. Unfortunately, mesothelioma is a terrible disease, and because the outcome is not good, it’s important for people to also try to learn all of their medical options.

Depending on age, stage of diagnosis, there’s a lot of different medical options. I think that it’s important for people to talk to their doctors about all possible treatments, to consider going to some of the national cancer treatment centers that specialize in mesothelioma, because there’s a handful of those throughout the country.

Those two things, getting your medical situation under control and learning and determining your legal rights, they’re not mutually exclusive. They really have to be dealt with at the same time. I think it’s important to find a lawyer that has experience with these cases, has experience with the particular exposure that you have, and also somebody that you certainly feel comfortable with, and feels like that person is going to fight for you, and do everything that he or she can do to obtain the best possible result. I hate to say you’ve got to call a lawyer first, but it certainly has to be very high on the list. More than likely, there will be a recovery there for you and your family in the greatest time of need that any of you have ever had.

Contact Us to Get Help Today

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Thank you, John.

John: For more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, you can visit the law firm of Satterley & Kelley at satterleylaw.com, or call (855) 385-9532.

What is Secondary Asbestos Exposure

What is Secondary Asbestos Exposure?

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Secondary asbestos exposure is like inhaling secondhand tobacco smoke. You can breathe in or swallow asbestos fibers in the air without directly working with asbestos, like inhaling tobacco smoke when you’re not the one with the cigarette. When it comes to legal claims, how you were exposed isn’t as important as proving your exposure and what asbestos products caused it.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral fiber. These very light, strong, and durable fibers are also heat, fire, chemical, and electricity-resistant. These properties made asbestos a popular material for centuries, and it was used in about 3,000 products over the years.

Asbestos-containing products include:

  • Building materials (roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, siding, insulation)
  • Friction products (brake linings, clutch pads)
  • Fire-resistant fabrics
  • Gaskets
  • Glues and mastics
  • Paints
  • Household appliances
  • Cigarette filters

Asbestos was plentiful and cheap during its peak use, which encouraged its use in a wide range of products.

Why is Asbestos Dangerous?

Asbestos is a serious health hazard. Inhaling or ingesting asbestos fibers may cause many health problems, including:

  • Mesothelioma: A rare and fatal cancer of the linings of the lungs, chest cavity, heart, abdominal cavity and organs
  • Asbestosis: A severe lung disease that can cause shortness of breath, coughing, and difficulty breathing, which slowly incapacitates its victims
  • Lung cancer: Asbestos fibers lodged in the lungs over many years cause scarring, inflammation, and genetic changes that result in malignant cells and tumors. If the person smoked while they were exposed, they face a much higher risk of lung cancer than if they only inhaled asbestos fibers

There is no known safe level of asbestos exposure. Due to asbestos’ health risks, 55 other countries currently ban asbestos use. In the US, the federal Environmental Protection Agency recently announced regulations that will ban asbestos use over a five-year period.

What is Secondary Asbestos Exposure?

Secondary exposure isn’t due to the direct use of asbestos fibers or products that contain it (known as primary exposure). Situations where secondary exposure could happen include:

  • There may be so much asbestos use at a facility like a power plant, shipyard, or steel mill that fibers float through the nearby area. Someone in the neighborhood or walking by the site could inhale or ingest fibers
  • Often those working with asbestos or products containing it had fibers on their clothes. When they returned home after work, fibers could spread through their homes, where their spouses and children inhaled or ingested asbestos fibers
  • Those living near an asbestos mine or a plant refining it could receive secondary exposure from fibers blowing in the wind

Some reasons why asbestos was used in so many products are that fibers are tiny, light, and durable. They can circulate in the air for a long time, settle, and then easily be stirred up again into the air. These characteristics made secondary exposure common and resulted in far more people being exposed.

Is Secondary Asbestos Exposure Dangerous?

According to the National Cancer Institute:

“There is some evidence that family members of workers heavily exposed to asbestos face an increased risk of developing mesothelioma…This risk is thought to result from exposure to asbestos fibers brought into the home on the shoes, clothing, skin, and hair of workers. To decrease these exposures, Federal law regulates workplace practices to limit the possibility of asbestos being brought home in this way. Some (current) employees may be required to shower and change their clothes before they leave work, store their street clothes in a separate area of the workplace, or wash their work clothes at home separately from other clothes…Cases of mesothelioma have also been seen in individuals without occupational asbestos exposure who live close to asbestos mines…”

You need not use asbestos to have your health and life threatened by it. Having asbestos fibers in your body increases your chances of mesothelioma and other cancers, no matter how it got there.

Can I Obtain Compensation for Harm Caused by Secondary Asbestos Exposure?

If you’re injured by asbestos, you may receive compensation for your medical bills, lost income, pain, and suffering, whether you worked with asbestos or products containing it directly or through secondary exposure.

As part of your case, you would need to produce evidence linking your exposure to a type or brand of asbestos product to show the correct defendants (those making or selling asbestos products) are named in your claim or lawsuit. Depending on your knowledge, that may or may not be difficult.

We would investigate how you were exposed and what or who (such as a family member) caused the exposure. After getting that information, we may be able to narrow down the places where the asbestos was used and determine which company’s products were used there.

If you have an asbestos-related disease, regardless of what you may or may not know about the original source of your exposure, we should discuss your case. Satterley & Kelley, PLLC is eager to talk to those injured by asbestos, no matter how it happened.

Call Us Today For A Free Initial Consultation

You may be entitled to compensation for your asbestos-related injuries if you:

  • Lived near a site where asbestos was used or mined, or
  • Lived with someone exposed to asbestos at work and
  • Are diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related condition

Call our Louisville office toll-free at 855-385-9532 or complete our online contact form for a free initial consultation regarding your case.

Will My Asbestos Claim Settle or Will It Go to Trial

Will My Asbestos Claim Settle or Will It Go to Trial?

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Nearly all asbestos claims settle and very few are resolved by a jury verdict. Even most lawsuits that are filed in court settle. Although Satterley & Kelley, PLLC will take cases to trial, the reality is that in most cases, a trial can be risky and expensive for both parties, and they are problems they want to avoid.

It’s up to our clients to decide how their case will be resolved. We usually recommend that reasonable, good-faith settlement offers be accepted, but whether it’s good enough is not our decision.

Why Do Asbestos Claims Settle?

Settling an asbestos claim usually has advantages over going to trial, including:

  • Faster resolution: Trials can be lengthy and complex, potentially taking years to reach a verdict. Depending on the judge’s decisions, a verdict in your favor may be appealed, taking more time to resolve. Settlements are normally reached much faster, providing you with relatively quicker access to the compensation you need
  • Reduced costs and risks: Trials involve significant costs, no matter the outcome, in money, time, energy, and emotion. Settling can significantly reduce these issues, providing a more predictable financial outcome. Additionally, if your case goes to trial, you risk not getting any compensation or much less than you expected
  • Emotional and physical toll: Asbestos-related illnesses can be physically and emotionally draining. Avoiding the stress and anxiety of a lengthy trial can be beneficial to your health and well-being
  • Focus on treatment and recovery: Settling your claim allows you to put the claim behind you so you can focus on your health, recovery, and family when, because of your condition, you may not have a lot of time left to do so

Settling also has potential drawbacks, including lower compensation. You’ll accept a discount in exchange for the certainty and speed of a settlement. It may be less than what you could be awarded if a trial went well.

What Will Help Me Get a Better Asbestos Claim Settlement?

All lawsuits have one thing in common – the stronger the evidence supporting the plaintiff, the better the chances of a positive outcome (including settlements). The better the cards in your hand, the more likely you’ll win the game.

Evidence that helps increase a case’s settlement value includes:

  • Documents and testimony link the defendant’s products to your exposure
  • Medical evidence clearly shows you have an asbestos-related disease. Asbestos fibers nearly always cause mesothelioma, so an accurate diagnosis is evidence asbestos caused your disease
  • You followed the product’s instructions and warnings (if any) and took reasonable steps to protect yourself from asbestos exposure
  • You follow your physician’s treatment advice and do your best to limit the harm you suffer
  • Claims of your past and expected future financial losses are well-documented

The better the evidence we have, the less a defendant will want a trial, the more they should be willing to pay to prevent having to defend themselves in court.

What Might Cause My Case’s Settlement Value and Counter-Offer to Drop?

The opposite of the above will cause problems for you:

  • Weak evidence connecting you to the defendant’s products. You have a poor memory of where and when you worked, and there’s little or conflicting evidence of what was used
  • The medical evidence doesn’t clearly establish your illness was caused by asbestos, and an expert hired by the defense disputes you have an asbestos-related condition
  • You ignored product and workplace instructions and warnings when you used asbestos-containing products
  • You didn’t follow reasonable medical advice, and your condition worsened faster than it would have otherwise
  • Your work history is spotty, and or you worked “under the table” for cash, so the evidence of what you earned in the past is weak, also damaging your claim for future income losses

Just as an unreasonable defendant may offer too little to settle, an unreasonable plaintiff may demand too much. Satterley & Kelley, PLLC has handled thousands of asbestos cases over the years, and we have a good grasp of a case’s settlement value. Our clients can accept or refuse our settlement advice, but we have good reasons to give it.

There’s no denying someone with mesothelioma has a right to be angry and feel those who harmed them should be punished. But that’s not how the legal system works. Settlements are contracts that end disputes, so both parties put these claims behind them. They’re not meant as punishment.

Demanding far more than a case’s value may result in no counter-offer, and negotiations may grind to a halt. If you’ll only accept what you ideally would get from a sympathetic jury, the defendant may prefer to run the risks of a trial, given your case may be dismissed or a jury might award much less than your settlement demand.

Call Us Today for A Free Consultation

Satterley & Kelley, PLLC, lawyers are your boots on the ground if you or a loved one in Kentucky has mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease. Call our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 or complete our online contact form and schedule a free initial consultation so we can discuss possible compensation for the harm you suffer.

Brakes and Mesothelioma

Brakes and Mesothelioma (Podcast)

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In this podcast, Paul Kelley explains the history of asbestos in brakes and friction products. Then, he talks about who was exposed and what to do if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another cancer due to exposure to asbestos in brakes.

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley and Kelley, which has over 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today we’re talking about brakes and mesothelioma. Welcome, Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hey, John. How are you doing today?

John: Good, thanks. How are you?

Paul: Doing well.

History of Asbestos in Car and Truck Brakes

John: Yeah. So, tell me a little bit, Paul, about where asbestos has historically been used in brakes for cars and trucks.

Paul: So, John, historically, asbestos has been used in both drum brakes and disc brakes back in the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s and really through the ’80s, most brakes were drum brakes. And so, you had a drum, you had two linings. They were moon shaped and they operated to brake, to stop the vehicle.

And then as we got into the ’80s and ’90s, and probably what’s most common today are disc brakes. And so, historically, the asbestos has been the linings in the drum brakes, so those little crescent segments. And then with respect to the disc brakes, it’s the pads. So, you’ve got a disc and you’ve got the pad, or the two pads and the pads work with a disc to stop the vehicle from moving.

John: And those pads and linings are on there basically so that you don’t have a metal piece scraping against the metal piece of the wheel. You don’t want that metal on metal, so they have these pads to absorb the impact, if you will.

Paul: Absolutely. Brakes wouldn’t last very long if you didn’t have something to prevent the metal on metal process.

Is There Still Asbestos in Brakes?

John: Has the use of asbestos now stopped in brakes?

Paul: Well, certainly in the United States it has. I believe the last documented manufacturer of asbestos containing brakes in the United States was probably around 2001. That having been said, I believe that internationally there’s still some companies that sell asbestos brakes. They’re probably not sold in the United States, at least not on a primary market. It’s not to say that they can’t make them here secondarily. And certainly in parts of Asia, probably Africa, maybe even parts of Europe, you could probably still buy asbestos-containing brakes today.

Who Was Affected by Asbestos in Brakes?

John: Yeah. And who would typically be exposed to the asbestos that’s found in brake linings and pads?

Paul: Oh gosh, a lot of folks. So, certainly, John, you would have the people who manufactured the brakes. And usually they worked with the supply of raw asbestos, and they would mix the materials. And people that were in the plants that made the linings and made the brake pads would certainly get a high level of asbestos exposure.

Then in addition, the people who manufactured cars and were responsible for installing the friction products onto the cars. We call brakes, friction products. So, the pads, linings, clutches, even those whole systems are what we call friction products.

And people who worked in these manufacturing plants and made a car, and they’re on the assembly line, and all they’re doing all day every day is putting brakes onto a car, putting the linings on, putting the pads on. And they were exposed in a variety of different ways from doing that.

Sometimes they had to sand the linings in order to get them to fit onto the drum. Sometimes there would be imperfections that were on the linings that they want to take a piece of sandpaper or some type of cloth and rub it off. Sometimes they grinded the linings in order to make them even more smooth and able to fit on. Sometimes they had to cut the linings because they might be too big. So, people who were engaged in the vehicle manufacturing process.

Then after that, you’ve got the people that worked in the automotive garage mechanic industry. I mean all the auto mechanics. There was a time when there were tens of thousands of mom-and-pop auto mechanic shops throughout the United States. In 2023, cars have gotten so sophisticated that you see a lot of auto dealerships and big operations. But I mean, it used to be that you couldn’t walk five blocks in most cities and towns without finding a small mechanic shop.

And the main work that they did back then, oil changes, filters, and they did a lot of brake work. Brakes wore out back in those days. They probably wore out even quicker than they do today. So, automotive mechanics were exposed quite frequently. We’ve seen people who worked for bus companies that have huge, heavy duty brakes on those vehicles, and they were involved in the inspection process. They were involved in things that might not have to do with the actual replacement of the brakes. But these things, when you stop a two ton bus, it applies so much friction that dust flies in the air and people could be exposed in that way.

We have represented a number of people that worked in the mining industry. So, coal mining is very prominent here in Kentucky. And in other parts of the world there’s talc mining, and other precious metal, and rock mining. And a lot of the equipment they used contain brakes and friction products that contained asbestos. So, the mechanics, the electricians, people that had to work on those types of vehicles were exposed to asbestos from those products.

In addition, sometimes brakes were used to operate industrial equipment. So, things that are not on the road, but things that are in a manufacturing plant. And they operate with motors and other sophisticated processes. And sometimes those pieces of equipment contain asbestos-containing brakes, friction products. And so, the people that are operating those machines, they change them out. They’re constantly stopping and applying that pressure that dust keeps flying up. And then sometimes in major industrial cities, maybe not so much today, but probably in the ’60s and ’70s, there were studies that so many vehicles, I mean every vehicle had asbestos-containing brakes.

And so, in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, I mean you name the major metropolitan city, there were higher levels of asbestos that were just generally in the air that people had exposure to from all these vehicles constantly braking every two seconds in a major metropolitan area. And it’s not as much of a problem today, of course, because we don’t have a lot of asbestos brakes. But it got better over the years just from companies, and cities, and industrial hygienists being a little bit more aware of the processes. But it was a really bad problem in the ’60s or ’70s.

And then probably the final group is family members whose loved ones worked in all the kinds of ways that we’ve talked about. Auto mechanics, manufacturers of the products, and people that were in the mining industry, their spouses or their children frequently were exposed to asbestos dust that got onto their clothing. They unknowingly brought it home to their wife, or their kids, or their husband, and there was an exposure.

Secondary Exposure for Family Members of People Who Work With Asbestos-Containing Brakes

John: Right. They tossed it in the laundry or something like that, and that dust is flying everywhere in the laundry room.

Paul: Absolutely. And unfortunately, because there was not much awareness in the general public at that time, people didn’t just come home and change out of their clothes. I mean, if they weren’t covered in oil and grease and that sort of thing, if it was just some dust, they’d come home and lounge around on the couch or at the kitchen table, hug their kids. And lots of times the dust would get into the house, it would get into their carpeting, their furniture, their cars.

And there is very special and highly sophisticated equipment that has been developed over the years to remove asbestos from industrial settings. If somebody came into a plant down the street from where I’m at today and they needed to remove asbestos, they wouldn’t just come in and bring some standard Hoover vacuum cleaner. They have to bring in highly specialized equipment in order to remove that dust. And even then, it’s not a thousand percent perfect.

So, imagine back in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, a husband or a wife comes home after working in an auto garage all day every day where they’re doing dozens of brake jobs, and they’ve got dust all over their clothes, and it gets into the house, there’s no real way to remove it. I mean, maybe over a period of years, if there was never any more exposure, again, maybe eventually it would be gone.

But if day in and day out, year, after year, after year they’re bringing it home, it’s in that house and it’s never going away. And there’s no domestic piece of cleaning equipment that can remove asbestos dust, whether it’s from brakes or something else from your home. And a lot of people that I’ve represented over the years, unfortunately, were unknowingly exposed in that way.

And unlike folks that are exposed in the occupational setting, I mean, they have no chance. I mean, they’re not warned. They wouldn’t have the equipment to protect themselves, and they certainly don’t have the knowledge. So, brakes contained asbestos in this country prevalently through the early 2000s. And unfortunately what that means, John, is a lot of people are going to develop asbestos cancers probably for the next 30 or 40 years as a result of that.

Who Manufactured Asbestos-Containing Brakes?

John: Right. Are there specific manufacturers of brakes that are documented to have contained asbestos? Or maybe certain locations or countries where the use of asbestos and brakes was common?

Paul: Sure. So, in the United States there were certainly dozens of manufacturers. But a couple of the bigger ones, there was a company called Bendix. Bendix doesn’t exactly exist today. It was bought out eventually by a company called Honeywell, that I’m sure everybody’s familiar with. They still sell the Bendix line of brakes today because it was the most predominant manufacturer of all friction products dating back to the ’50s, ’60s, and moving forward. It was such a big name that when Honeywell bought out that product line, they didn’t change the name of the brakes because it was synonymous with quality and whatnot.

Unfortunately, all of their brakes contained asbestos through the early 1980s. And then even when they started to phase them out, they didn’t just go cold turkey. I mean, they had a non asbestos product line, and then eventually they did get rid of it. All of your automobile manufacturers, Ford, Chrysler, GM, all of your foreign manufacturers, they all had their own brake line. Now, a lot of those may have been the linings themselves were probably supplied by a company like Bendix, but they were sold under the Ford name or they were sold under the GM name.

And you know the kind of people I’m talking about. If they bought a Ford, the only people that worked on that car was the Ford dealership. And if it was the Ford dealership, they were putting a Ford brake onto that vehicle. And at least until the early 1980s, and if it was a drum brake in particular, it contained asbestos, no question about it. And the same would be true for pretty much all of your auto manufacturers.

Of course, foreign cars probably didn’t become a big deal in this country until the ’80s and in the 1990s, but they all basically had their own product line. There were other companies, a few of them have gone into bankruptcy. But a company called Abex was also a big manufacturer of asbestos-containing brakes, historically probably stopped in the mid 1980s. Carlisle, that’s a company that predominantly manufactured heavy duty brakes for your big semi trucks. And Carlisle manufactured asbestos brakes, at least till the mid 1980s, if not the early ’90s.

A company called Rayloc or Rayloc was the product line. People were probably more familiar with NAPA Auto Parts, a company called Genuine Parts. But that was a very, very predominant and prevalent product line. People walked into their NAPA store and they bought Rayloc brakes. And those brakes contained asbestos for the most part deep into the 1980s. So, there are many, many, many more. And the rule of thumb is if you did that work before 2001 in any way, whether it was in the manufacturing plant or the automobile mechanic industry, guaranteed you were exposed and probably guaranteed you were exposed a lot.

Manufacturers Used Asbestos Brakes Until the Early 2000s

John: Absolutely. Yeah. And you said that some of the brakes actually contained asbestos all the way up until the early 2000s?

Paul: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it’s probably because cars last for a long time if people take care of them. So, if a car was designed with an asbestos-containing brake, it was better to replace it with an asbestos-containing brake. I think there became a point where A, a lot of those vehicles were just not on the market anymore. But I think it also came to a spot where they developed non-asbestos alternatives to put on those vehicles.

But no doubt. And we’re aware, there was a plant here in Kentucky, it was actually a Rayloc plant. And we know for a fact that that plant manufactured brakes that contained asbestos until 2001. And some of the linings that were used in that plant were supplied by Bendix or the Bendix product line. And that’s conclusively documented and proven in cases that we’ve been involved in.

And so, the concern is that with the long latency period, and what that means, John, is how long it takes to develop a disease from the first exposure, and mesothelioma has a very lengthy latency period. It can be as little as 10 years, but that’s rare. It’s usually in a range of 20 to 60 years. So, that means that somebody could be exposed in their twenties for the very first time, and they very well may not develop that disease until their ’60s or ’70s. So, if you’re doing the math, somebody that was a teenager in 2001 doing brake work, they’re at risk their entire lives. And I fully expect that there will be a certain percentage of people that did that kind of work through 2001 that unfortunately will develop this cancer.

The good news is it’s highly unlikely people are being widely exposed to asbestos from friction product work now. But to be perfectly frank, it really doesn’t matter for all those people that were exposed prior to 2001. And we probably don’t need to get too deep into it, but these manufacturers and distributors of these products were well aware in the ’60s and ’70s, maybe even the 1950s, that asbestos was a carcinogen, that it would expose people to hazardous levels of dust from doing brake work, and that people would develop cancer.

So, what’s happened is as we get into 2023, I’m not here to speak on statistics, but I can tell you that there’s been tens of thousands of cases involving people that either professionally did brake work or did what we call the shade tree mechanic work, where they did it at home for family and friends that have developed mesothelioma.

And a large percentage of those people never had any exposure other than the brakes. And so, my adversaries will say that their products don’t cause cancer, even though they knew back in the ’60s that they did. But I think the evidence is sufficient to indicate not only can it cause cancer, but it’s caused cancer for an awful lot of people over a very large period of time. And it took them probably 25-30 years before they took the product off the market, after we started seeing all of these mechanics and factory workers or assemblers being diagnosed with asbestos cancer, mesothelioma.

What to Do If You Have Mesothelioma Due to Exposure to Asbestos in Brakes

John: And what should someone do if they believe that they now have mesothelioma? And I think that it was caused by the asbestos that’s in these brick linings and pads.

Paul: Well, there’s so many things that the people do need to do. Unfortunately, in Kentucky where I’m at, we have a one-year statute of limitations to file a claim. That’s one year from the date that you know or should know that you have an injury, and know or should know the cause of the injury. But my rule of thumb is one year from the date of diagnosis, because you don’t want to run the risk that a judge or jury may have a different opinion as to when your statute ran.

So, it’s important to contact a lawyer immediately and start discussing the options. The other big problem that folks have, of course, is their medical situation. Mesothelioma in particular is a terminal cancer. The statistics are very grim for people who have been diagnosed with that disease. And there’s a life expectancy of about 12 to 18 months from the date of diagnosis.

So, people who are diagnosed with mesothelioma have two things that they really have to worry about. One is what their legal rights are and how to hold those accountable for causing their cancer. And then the more important issue is to take care of their medical situation as best they can. There are surgeries, there’s various treatments, and the science is getting better.

But I tell everybody, unfortunately, you don’t have the luxury of getting your medical care completely worked out and have a plan in place. It’s really important to talk to a lawyer, do your research, find lawyers that have had experience with asbestos cases, and specifically experience with automobile brake cases or friction product cases. It’s highly specialized. People don’t dabble in what we do successfully. And these defendants have a unique defense in these cases. And so, it’s important to hire somebody that knows how to deal with those defenses, and respond to them appropriately, and be successful for you and your family.

This is a terrible time of need that people will be in when they’re diagnosed with this cancer. And they just need to find the right attorney that they feel comfortable with, they can develop a good relationship with, and certainly an attorney that doesn’t need to recreate the wheel, so to speak, when the case comes in. That they’re prepared to hit the ground running. And I feel like my law firm is uniquely situated. Particularly here in Kentucky, we do a lot of that work. And quite frankly, a lot of what we’ve done over the last 10 years has been a lot of friction product work because as we predicted, there would be a lot of these cases and there have been, and there will continue to be many cases.

Contact Satterley and Kelley to Learn More

John: Okay. All right. Well, that’s really great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Thank you, John.

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, visit the law firm of Satterley and Kelley at satterleylaw.com or call 855-385-9532.

Should I Settle My Car Accident Case?

Who’s to Blame for a Rear-End Crash?

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Rear-end collisions are common and can inflict severe injuries. Unless the situation is extraordinary, the vehicle driver causing the collision from behind will be found liable. The bigger issues in these cases are normally the injuries the plaintiff suffers and how much the case will settle for.

What is a Rear-End Collision?

A rear-end collision occurs when one vehicle crashes into the back of another because it’s stopped or moving slower than the vehicle behind it.

How Often Do Rear-End Accidents Happen?

They’re the most frequent type of collision, according to a 2007 federal Department of Transportation (DOT) report. It states they make up about 29% of vehicle crashes. The Kentucky State Police estimates that 16.5% of all the state’s vehicle crashes in 2022 were rear-end collisions, accounting for 6% of traffic fatalities.

Where Do Rear-End Crashes Occur?

They can happen anywhere, but some locations are more prone to them than others:

  • Traffic jams: Heavy traffic on highways or city streets, where vehicles frequently stop and start, increases the risk of rear-end collisions
  • Intersections: Rear-end crashes frequently occur at intersections, especially when one vehicle stops suddenly for a red light, yellow light, or pedestrian crossing, and the following vehicle fails to stop in time because it’s speeding or the driver’s inattentive. The Kentucky State Police report that 30% of all 2022 vehicle accidents occurred in intersections
  • Merging lanes: Collisions can happen if one vehicle merges too quickly into traffic from an entrance ramp or changes lanes and hits another vehicle from behind

Locations with more drivers and potential conflicts are where there’s a greater risk of rear-end accidents. If there are more drivers, there’s likely to be more of them making mistakes and causing accidents. At intersections and traffic jams, vehicles that are stopped or slowing down may be followed by those driven by distracted drivers who are not paying attention to what’s ahead of them.

Why Do Rear-End Accidents Happen?

The DOT looked at rear-end incidents, including accidents and near-accidents. They found that:

  • When vehicles crashed into each other, 59% of lead cars were stopped, and 22% were slowing down
  • Approximately 87% of rear-end crashes involved some form or degree of driver distraction
  • Drivers not looking forward had longer brake times compared to those who did
  • The vast majority of drivers involved in incidents weren’t following too closely, they were distracted, and drivers weren’t looking forward

More than 3,100 people were killed, and about 424,000 were injured in 2019 in vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Who Would be Liable for a Rear-End Crash?

Liability means legal responsibility for something that negatively impacted someone else. Determining whether someone is liable in a negligence case involves multiple decisions based on the case’s facts and applicable law.

The plaintiff (the accident victim filing the lawsuit) has the burden of showing:

  • There was a relationship between the drivers (you shared the road), and the defendant (the party sued) owed you a legal duty or obligation to do or not do something in the situation leading up to the accident
  • The defendant failed that obligation or breached that duty
  • That breach or failure is the accident’s factual and legal (or proximate) causes
  • The crash harmed you
  • Under state law, the defendant must compensate you for your damages (a measurement of your injury in dollars)

In the context of a rear-end accident:

  • Both drivers must operate their vehicles reasonably and safely
  • For the lead driver, that means not driving erratically, quickly changing lanes, and sharply braking for no good reason
  • For the following driver, that means maintaining control of the vehicle, not being distracted, and paying attention to what’s happening in front of the vehicle. They must be able to stop their car in time to prevent striking one in front of them, no matter their speed, road, or weather conditions
  • Unless the lead driver is unpredictable, dangerous, and creating a situation where a reasonable following driver, despite taking all the proper precautions, can’t help but hit them, the following driver will be held responsible for the crash
  • The fact the crash happened shows the following driver was unable to stop in time to prevent it. Unless the following driver can show the lead driver’s actions were so off-the-wall they couldn’t avoid a crash, they will be found liable

If you’re the lead driver, the other driver should compensate you for your damages (pain, suffering, medical bills, lost function due to disability, lost income, and benefits) unless your driving was so hazardous it caused the crash.

How Would This Impact Settling a Claim?

When an insured’s liability is clear, it simplifies a claim or lawsuit because it’s not a reason for an insurer to deny your claim or seek dismissal of your legal action. The parties usually focus on the plaintiff’s damages and what’s a fair settlement.

Insurance companies generally avoid trials that are just about damages. They fear a jury may be sympathetic to someone who’s clearly been wronged and award them a high damages verdict. Insurers are usually more flexible about resolving a claim and more willing to put a case behind them with a negotiated settlement.

Speak To A Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Vehicle Accident Injury Lawyer Today

If you’re the victim of a rear-end accident that caused your injuries, Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers are here to protect your interests and legal rights to compensation. Schedule a free initial consultation so we can discuss your case. Call our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 or complete our contact form if it’s more convenient.

Mesothelioma Patients

Big Rivers Power Plants and Mesothelioma (Podcast)

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In this podcast, John Maher talks with Paul Kelley about asbestos exposure at the Big Rivers power plants. Paul explains how exposure occurred, who was exposed, and what to do if you’ve been diagnosed with asbestos due to exposure.

John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher. I’m here today with Paul Kelley. Paul is a partner with the Kentucky personal injury law firm, Satterley and Kelley, which has over 45 years of collective experience in litigating mesothelioma and asbestos claims. Today we’re talking about the Big Rivers power plants and mesothelioma.

Welcome, Paul.

Paul Kelley: Hey, John. How are you doing today?

John: Good, thanks. How are you?

Paul: Doing well, thank you.

What Are the Big Rivers Power Plants?

John: Good. So Paul, what are the Big Rivers power plants? Where are they located?

Paul: So there are several Big Rivers power plants. Some of them closed down, but historically, there was the Kenneth Coleman Station, and that was located kind of in the Lewisport-Hawesville Kentucky area. There’s also what we kind of globally call, the Sebree station in kind of Sebree-Robards area of Kentucky, but that probably is more commonly known as the [Robert] Reid Station, the Green Station, and the Henderson Station. And then there’s also the D.B. Wilson, which I think is more towards Centerville, Kentucky.

And those were all power plants that were built in the, let’s say the late 1970s, or I’m sorry, the late 1960s through the early 1980s. And they provided power for a substantial part of the Western Kentucky area. And sometimes they worked in co-op with other power facilities and co-ops. But essentially, Big Rivers operated several power plants in Western Kentucky that provided power to a significant population in that area of the state.

Asbestos at the Big Rivers Power Plants

John: And so how are the Big Rivers power plants related to asbestos and mesothelioma claims?

Paul: So a lot of different ways. I’ll kind of start with the Coleman station, which was started to be built in 1969.

Power plants contain a turbine. They contain a boiler. The turbine is what generates the electricity. The boiler is what provides the energy to the turbine to create the electricity. And these power plants are huge and they contain all kinds of equipment. They contain miles and miles of piping. And when those plants were built, particularly the earliest ones, they were all insulated with asbestos. The pipes that ran through the plant that provided steam contained asbestos. The piping that was connected to the boilers and the turbines contained asbestos. The boilers and the turbines were insulated with asbestos. The insides of the boilers were insulated with asbestos.

Asbestos was a very effective heat-resistant material. You can imagine how hot these boilers are. I forget the temperature ranges, but they’re north of a thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and it would require something very significant to keep their materials from degrading. And so like firebrick went into the boilers and that had to be replaced every so often, but it lasted a year or two. Sometimes the outsides of these boilers and turbines were insulated with asbestos in order to keep heat in and also to protect people from touching a hot piece of equipment.

There were things called precipitators that also contained asbestos, asbestos insulation, asbestos refractory firebrick material and then, of course, the piping. And you can only imagine in a facility that was acres long, how many miles of piping and power plants, in particular, had a lot of it because its whole purpose was to carry steam from the boiler to the turbines. And so there was miles and miles of piping that was all insulated with asbestos.

Who Was Exposed to Asbestos at Big Rivers?

And so historically, what we’ve seen at places like Coleman and then later on at the Sebree Station with Reid and Green and Henderson is all those pieces of equipment were insulated with asbestos, all the piping was. And so people who worked during the original construction of those plants were heavily exposed to asbestos and, unfortunately, years later started to develop mesothelioma.

Then in addition, they have to operate those plants and they have to maintain those plants and they have to update those plants and so people that came in years later to perform maintenance were exposed. Whether they replaced the insulation on the piping or they overhauled the boilers and the turbines, they were exposed. Millwrights that came in to tear out pieces of equipment and piping and to revamp were exposed. So there were a lot of people that worked both during the construction, as well as the maintenance and the operation of the plant who, ultimately, many years down the road developed cancer as a result of that exposure.

John: Yeah, and so all of the people that built the plant, like you said, any of the people who did maintenance on the plant. Were there other people who would’ve worked at the Big Rivers power plants who might’ve been exposed as well in some other indirect way?

Paul: I mean, the operators. I mean, they had to be exposed. So it takes a village of people to operate a power plant. I don’t know exactly what the numbers were of how many people were in these various plants, but Coleman Station had three units. And what that means is it had a turbine generator unit, so it had three of them. The Sebree Station had five units.

You’ve got dozens, if not hundreds, of people that are in that plant working to make sure that people are getting power. And so controllers, people that operated the turbines were getting exposed. People that operated the boilers were getting exposed.

The managers, supervisors, the engineers. I mean, you don’t just open up a power plant and turn it over to just anybody. You’ve got highly educated people that are operating this piece of equipment. You have highly educated people that come in and make sure that all the equipment is working and doing what it’s supposed to be doing. And so a lot of engineers worked in those plants and so a lot of engineers have been exposed and several of them have developed cancer over the years.

People who certainly visited the plant for whatever reason, not necessarily working in a maintenance situation, not necessarily a full-time employee, but they would have lots of visitors that would come into those plants for various reasons and they’re being exposed.

Over the years, asbestos does start to degrade a little bit, and we would frequently get descriptions from people that worked in those plants about it deteriorating from the steam lines and just falling down and falling into the breathing zone of people that are working in the plant, people that are visiting the plant.

And, unfortunately, the science indicates that it does not take a lot of asbestos to cause mesothelioma. And so anybody that’s spent any time in that plant or in any of those plants are, unfortunately, the ones that haven’t already developed cancer, they’re at significant risk of developing mesothelioma and a lot higher risk than your average population.

What to Do If You Have Mesothelioma or Cancer Due to Asbestos Exposure at Big Rivers’ Power Plants

John: Right. So if you were an employee at Big Rivers Electric Corporation, now you have lung cancer or asbestosis or mesothelioma, what should you do?

Paul: I think it’s important to contact a lawyer and try to figure out your rights. Big Rivers is an interesting location because there were so many contractors that worked there and then obviously a lot of manufacturers’ products were in there.

We’ve talked about this and other scenarios. A lot of those manufacturers have gone into bankruptcy. Several have not. A lot of the contractors and distributors have gone into bankruptcy. Several have not.

If you were a direct employee of Big Rivers, you can’t file a lawsuit against it. Under Kentucky Law, you’re limited to what’s called a workers’ compensation claim and there may be reasons why you can’t even file that. But you can certainly file a claim against the manufacturers of products. You can file claims against some of the distributors, some of the contractors that worked in there.

If you weren’t a Big Rivers employee, then there’s a pretty good chance that you can sue Big Rivers and recover directly from Big Rivers for causing or contributing to your cancer. But you have got to figure it out. And I’ve talked to so many people over the years that have worked in those facilities that really didn’t know what their exposure was. They knew that there was insulation there, they knew that they worked on turbines or boilers, but they didn’t have any understanding there was asbestos in those products.

And so it’s important to talk to a lawyer to kind of go through everything. And typically speaking, John, if somebody was a contractor and they worked at Big Rivers, they worked at more places than Big Rivers. They worked at all kinds of other places so there’s going to be some likely other exposures.

But it’s important to figure out what your rights are, to make sure that you file your case within the Kentucky statute of limitations, make sure that you exhaust all possible avenues of recovery and identify witnesses. This disease is very harsh and most people are going to pass away within a year, year and a half, of being diagnosed with the disease. Time is of the essence.

Hiring somebody that already has a lot of evidence related to a particular facility like Big Rivers is important. You can certainly try to recreate the wheel, but why do that when the evidence is already there? And so hiring somebody that not only has experience with mesothelioma cases and asbestos cases, but hiring somebody that knows that particular facility, knows those particular plants, I think, is critical.

And so my advice is obviously for you and your family, medical care and trying to develop a plan for treatment is of utmost importance. I mean, lawsuits are kind of over here on one side, but at some point, and the sooner, the better, it’s important to consult with an attorney to see what your rights are and to make sure that you’re adequately protecting your rights.

Things don’t get better over time. Memories fade. If somebody comes to me and they’ve developed cancer at 75, there’s a good chance that a lot of their coworkers are also that age. There’s a good chance that a lot of their coworkers have already passed away so making sure that somebody can get out there and start interviewing people and finding witnesses is critical. Sometimes our clients have passed already, and so it’s really important for us to find additional witnesses because we won’t get it anywhere else.

But I wish that we lived in a world where they could go to their doctors and develop a plan, take all the medical treatments, if they choose surgery, do all of that, and then worry about talking to a lawyer later. But that process takes several months, and those several months are a period of time that somebody like me can be out working for you and you don’t have to worry about that part of it.

That’s what you hire your lawyers for. That’s what we do, is to go out and try to develop the proof necessary for you to succeed while you and your family worry about what’s really important, which is trying to stay as healthy as you possibly can. And we don’t have a cure for mesothelioma yet, but the science is getting better. And certainly people’s lives, people are living longer, their quality of life is a lot better than what it used to be.

So focus on your medical care, but find out what your legal rights are. If you choose to hire somebody, let that lawyer hit the ground running and do everything that he or she can do to protect your legal rights and try to help you and your family in this extremely difficult and vulnerable time in your life.

Kentucky Statute of Limitations on Asbestos Exposure Claims

John: Right. You mentioned making sure that you file a claim before the Kentucky statute of limitations runs out. How long is that?

Paul: So under Kentucky law, we have one year from the date that we know or should know that we have an injury and also the cause of that injury and those can be two different dates. But the rule of thumb is to try to get a lawsuit filed within a year of the diagnosis. If a judge determines that you knew or should have known about your condition and the cause of it more than a year prior to when the case was filed, the judge doesn’t have any discretion. The judge has to dismiss your case.

So I don’t like to fool around with it. If somebody comes to me and they’ve been diagnosed a month prior, we figure it out and we get it filed as quickly as possible so we don’t leave anything to chance.

Now, sometimes they come nine, 10 months down the road and it’s a little bit of a challenge, but we still do everything we can do to try to get that thing filed within a year of the diagnosis because it would be very difficult for a judge or jury to conclude that it was untimely under those circumstances.

But if it’s 14 months after diagnosis, I’m not telling you that you can’t beat an SOL challenge because you can. But why run the risk if you don’t have to?

And then for obvious purposes, as I’ve mentioned before, life expectancy is not where we’d like it to be and so there’s just absolutely no reason to wait.

Contact Satterley and Kelley for Help Today

John: All right. Well, that’s really great information, Paul. Thanks again for speaking with me today.

Paul: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.

John: And for more information about mesothelioma and asbestos exposure, visit the law firm of Satterley and Kelley at satterleylaw.com or call (855) 385-9532.

Practical Tips for Living With Mesothelioma

Practical Tips for Living With Mesothelioma

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Mesothelioma is a difficult-to-treat, fatal cancer. There are different treatment approaches, and your ability to live your life fully depends on your health situation and frame of mind. There are steps you can take to live as best you can after your mesothelioma diagnosis.

How to Manage Physical Symptoms

Shortness of breath is common for those with mesothelioma, according to the American Lung Association. Depending on your situation, it may be treated by removing fluid from the space between your pleura and lung, drain placement, or surgery. If fluid builds up, you may need multiple treatments to manage it.

If mesothelioma causes pain, you shouldn’t just live with it. Some options to manage it include:

  • Working with a physical therapist who may show you how to move to help prevent pain and make you more comfortable
  • Pain medications may be an option, whether they’re taken orally, with a patch, or intravenously
  • Techniques that can reduce your stress and increase your pain tolerance include deep breathing exercises, meditation, guided imagery, and self-hypnosis

Pain can impact every part of your life. It can ruin your sleep and appetite and cause fatigue. Discuss your discomfort with your healthcare provider who should give you treatment options.

Palliative care

This can be a crucial part of managing mesothelioma and your symptoms. Palliative care from physicians specializing in mesothelioma patients may help minimize the emotional and physical effects of your symptoms. Your physician will focus on your needs, not your prognosis. You can take this approach while also actively pursuing treatment. The earlier a palliative care specialist gets involved with your care, the more benefits you may receive.

Cope as Best You Can

Most people with mesothelioma are older. You developed ways to cope with problems that may or may not serve you well. Trying a new approach may cause you more stress unless your existing strategy is unproductive or harmful because it leads to depression. Lashing out or being angry with loved ones or caregivers won’t help you through this and may push people away.

Well-meaning people may give you lousy coping advice. They may tell you to be positive and take this challenge head-on like a football game. You should do that if that’s a good fit for your personality. If not, don’t. You may be told you need to become more religious, especially if your prognosis isn’t good. You should do so if you think that will help, but don’t feel compelled to change your religious beliefs if you’re uncomfortable with that.

Get professional help to manage your feelings and emotions. It’s not a sign that you’re weak. It shows you’re smart enough to ask for help when needed.

Keep communication lines open

It’s essential to maintain honest communications with your loved ones, healthcare providers, and others, according to the Mayo Clinic. You may feel alone if others think they’re protecting you by not discussing your difficult situation. You may feel alone or less supported if you want to appear strong and not share your fears or feelings. When you and others show emotions, you can help support each other.

Develop ways to deal with mesothelioma

Ideas worth trying may include:

  • Finding ways to relax
  • Honestly share your feelings with those you’re comfortable with, whether friends, family, a spiritual adviser, or a counselor.
  • Write a journal to organize your thoughts and express your memories, feelings, and fears
  • Set aside time to be alone, but don’t live in isolation
  • Stay involved with activities as much as you can

You can also feel better by finding power when you feel powerless. You can make others feel better about themselves. Tell them how much they mean to you and how proud you are of them. Compliment and thank them. Help them when you can.

If there were past disagreements or you felt wronged by friends or family in some way, make things right. Admit the mistakes you made and apologize for any harm you caused.

Let friends and family help you

If you are blessed with friends and family willing and able to help you, accept their offers to pitch in. It not only eases your burdens but makes them feel better because they’re taking action to improve the life of someone they care about.

They can’t cure you, but they may run errands, drive you to appointments, cook meals, and help with chores. This gives family and friends a way to help you during a difficult time. This may help them as much as it helps you. Don’t deny them this opportunity.

This also helps your primary caregiver. The more friends and family do, the less your caregiver must do, allowing more time and energy to themselves. This may prevent them from getting burned out from caring for you.

Anticipate physical changes

Talk to your healthcare provider about how the disease and your treatment will change your body so you’ll be prepared and better able to deal with it. Chemotherapy often leads to hair loss. You may have weight loss or gain. Talk to others with cancer to see what they’ve experienced and how they’ve coped.

Live a healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle may improve your energy level and state of mind. Eat a healthy diet and get enough sleep. Try to keep a consistent daily routine that includes some exercise and talking to others.

Are you or a loved one seeking information about mesothelioma and your legal options? Call (855) 385-9532 to learn more.

Motorcyclists Face Higher Risks of Accidents

Motorcyclists Face Higher Risks of Accidents and More Severe Injuries

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There’s no free lunch. Along with the unique pleasures of riding a motorcycle come risks vehicle drivers don’t face. Motorcyclists should take steps to manage and reduce the chances of a severe accident and take advantage of riding while the rest of us are stuck inside our vehicles.

What are Some of the Risks Motorcyclists Face?

Compared to vehicles, riding a motorcycle comes with unique risks and potential threats. They include:

  • Exposure to the elements: There’s little protection from the weather. Riders are exposed to rain, wind, and extreme temperatures, which can affect your comfort and ability to focus
  • Lack of visibility: Motorcycles are smaller and less visible than cars, making them harder for motorists to see. This increases the risk of accidents, especially at intersections or when changing lanes. Due to a motorcycle’s smaller size, drivers may misjudge its distance and speed, thinking it’s farther away and slower than it is
  • Less stable: Since there are only two wheels, motorcycles are inherently less stable than four-wheeled vehicles. You need to maintain your balance, especially at low speeds or when maneuvering in tight spaces, which is not something drivers must contend with. Because of this lesser stability, motorcycles are especially dangerous where there’s a lack of traction, which can be caused by water, oil, sand, or gravel on the road
  • No protective shell: Unlike a car or a truck, no metal body surrounds a motorcyclist. This makes it much more likely a motorcyclist will be ejected and or directly strike an object or vehicle in an accident. This is far more dangerous than what someone riding in a car, seat belted in, next to airbags, faces in a crash. What might be a minor accident for a vehicle could be life-threatening for a motorcyclist
  • Road hazards: Motorcycles are potentially more affected by potholes, uneven surfaces, and debris. While a vehicle might suffer a flat tire or a loss of alignment if it hits a big pothole, a motorcyclist may lose control and be ejected
  • Inexperienced riders: Inexperienced riders may lack the skills and judgment to operate a motorcycle safely, increasing their risk of accidents. Proper training and practice are essential for reducing this risk
  • Bad drivers: While bad drivers are dangerous to other drivers, motorcyclists can suffer far more harm if they collide with a vehicle, especially at higher speeds

If you decide to use a motorcycle, you must understand the dangers you face and take steps to reduce your risk of an accident.

What Can I Do to Make Motorcycling Safer?

Motorcyclists can’t control other drivers, what’s on the road, or the weather, but there are steps they can take to help them reach their destination safely. They include:

  • Wear safety gear: Kentucky law requires motorcyclists to wear helmets if they are younger than 21, have an instruction permit, or have had a motorcycle license for less than a year. If you fall outside these requirements, you should wear a helmet anyway because it may prevent a catastrophic injury in an accident. You should also use protective eyewear, gloves, sturdy boots, and durable, abrasion-resistant clothing, such as leather or armored gear
  • Get trained: You need not take a motorcycle safety course to get a license in Kentucky. Like helmets, just because it’s not required doesn’t mean it may not save your life. Even experienced riders can benefit from advanced training courses to improve their skills and hazard awareness
  • Follow traffic laws: You must obey speed limits, traffic signals, and road signs to help reduce the chances of crashing. Aggressive or reckless behavior, such as lane splitting, weaving through traffic, or excessive speeding, can be a recipe for disaster. Avoid or strictly limit your alcohol intake because impairment can be much more dangerous than if you drive a car because your margin for error is much more thin. Don’t ride under the influence of legal or illegal drugs
  • Stay visible: Wear brightly colored or reflective clothing, especially at night or in low-light conditions. Black is fashionable for motorcyclists, but you won’t look terrific in the back of an ambulance. Use your motorcycle’s headlights, turn signals, and brake lights to increase your visibility to other motorists.
  • Maintain your motorcycle: Breaking down may significantly increase your chances of being struck by a vehicle, especially if you must pull over in an area with heavy traffic. A malfunction may also cause you to crash. Regularly inspect your motorcycle for mechanical issues, including brakes, tires, lights, and signals. Keep your bike well-maintained and serviced according to the manufacturer’s recommendations
  • Practice defensive riding: Pay attention to your surroundings and anticipate potential hazards. Scan ahead for obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, and changing road conditions. Assume motorists may not see you or yield the right of way. Maintain a safe following distance from other vehicles, and be prepared to react quickly to dangerous situations that may suddenly arise
  • Ride within your limits: Know your skill level and ride at a pace that you are comfortable with. Don’t buy a motorcycle that’s too powerful for you to operate safely
  • Avoid dangerous conditions: Don’t ride when it’s raining or roads are water-covered. Avoid areas with heavy traffic where your chances of encountering a bad driver increase

By following these suggestions and adopting safe riding practices, you may greatly reduce the risks of accidents and enjoy a safer riding experience.

Speak To A Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Today

If you or someone you love is injured in a Kentucky motorcycle accident, we want to help you recover the fair and full compensation you deserve.

If you want to speak to an experienced attorney, contact our Louisville office to schedule a free initial consultation. Call us at 502-589-5600 or toll-free at 855-385-9532, or reach us online through our contact form.

Wrongful Death Cases for Family Members of Deceased Mesothelioma Victims

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If your loved one died of mesothelioma, Satterley & Kelley, PLLC can help your family recover compensation for the death of your family member. These lawsuits are a type of personal injury case filed when the injury is fatal. Given how deadly and aggressive mesothelioma is, unfortunately, they’re common for families suffering from the disease’s impact.

Kentucky law states:

“Whenever the death of a person results from an injury inflicted by the negligence or wrongful act of another, damages may be recovered for the death from the person who caused it, or whose agent or servant caused it. If the act was willful or the negligence gross, punitive damages may be recovered. The action shall be prosecuted by the personal representative of the deceased.”

The statute can be broken down into three parts. The “person” causing the injury can be the company or corporation that created, distributed, or sold the asbestos products the deceased used or their employees or agents responsible for the injury.

1. Person’s Death Due to an Injury Caused by Another

The injury must not only be fatal but also caused by negligence or a wrongful act of another (which can be misconduct, gross negligence, or an intentional act).

The elements of a negligence case are:

  • Due to the relationship between the deceased and the defendant (the party sued, and the deceased used the defendant’s product), they owed them a legal obligation or duty to do or not do something given the situation
  • The defendant failed that obligation or breached that duty
  • That failure or breach is the factual and legal (or proximate) cause of the fatal injury
  • The accident caused harm to the deceased and surviving family members
  • Under Kentucky law, the defendant must pay the estate and family members damages

In an asbestos case, the defendant may have knowingly sold a dangerous product without a proper warning or instructions or should’ve never sold it because it was so dangerous. Due to the deceased’s use, he was fatally injured.

Gross negligence goes beyond failing to live up to your legal duties. It can be an unreasonably risky act to others, and the defendant ignored others’ rights to be safe.

2. Damages May Be Recovered From the Person Causing the Death or the Agent or Servant who Caused It. Punitive Damages May Result from Intentional Acts or Those Showing Extreme Indifference to the Safety of Others

In a successful wrongful death case, the damages, or the harm to the plaintiff and their survivors measured in dollars, compensate the estate and the surviving family members for their losses.

Those recovering in a wrongful death claim may receive damages for specific wrongs they suffered due to the wrongful death of a loved one. These include:

  • Lost earnings caused by the deceased’s premature death
  • Funeral expenses
  • Compensation for the deceased’s pain and suffering before death
  • Medical bills incurred before the death related to the asbestos injury
  • Loss of consortium (or the negative impact of a death on relationships) by a minor child or spouse

Kentucky allows for a punitive damages award if an intentional act or gross negligence causes the death. This award isn’t to compensate family members but to punish the defendant for extreme behavior and discourage it and others from taking similar future acts. Asbestos companies found liable for injuries and deaths have been ordered to pay punitive damages in some past cases.

Those getting the damages award after funeral expenses are paid will be in this order:

  • The surviving spouse if there are no surviving children
  • The surviving spouse would get half, and the other half would go to the surviving children
  • The surviving children, if there is no surviving spouse
  • The surviving parent(s), if there is no surviving spouse or child
  • More remote relatives if there is no surviving spouse, child, or parent

Who will get what depends on the closeness of the relationship to the deceased.

3. The Estate’s Personal Representative Files the Legal Action

Close family members benefit from a wrongful death lawsuit, but the plaintiff is the estate’s personal representative. An estate is a legal entity created to pay the deceased’s bills and taxes. The probate court names the personal representative to be responsible for the estate.

Typically, assets left over are distributed according to the person’s will or state law if there is no will. The wrongful death statute spells out who will be awarded wrongful death case damages and under what situation.

We Can Be Your Trusted Wrongful Death and Mesothelioma Lawyer

Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers have more than 30 years of experience advocating for family members involved in wrongful death cases. If you lost a loved one, we can help you obtain justice.

To speak with an attorney from our firm in a free initial consultation, call our Louisville office at 502-589-5600 (toll-free at 855-385-9532). You can also reach us online by filling out our contact form.

Veterans’ Benefits for Service-Related Mesothelioma

Veterans’ Benefits for Those With Service-Related Mesothelioma

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If you were exposed to asbestos during your military service and later diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease like mesothelioma, you may qualify for a Veterans’ Administration (VA) disability pension. The VA has a set of rules that apply to veterans who became ill after exposure to toxic substances, which may make it simpler to qualify for benefits.

What are VA Disability Compensation Benefits?

Disability compensation is a tax-free, monthly payment to veterans who became ill or injured during their military service and those whose condition worsened. These benefits cover physical and mental health conditions developed before, during, or after their service, according to the VA.

How Do I Qualify for These Benefits?

You may be eligible if you can establish that you:

  • Have a condition caused by asbestos (such as mesothelioma) and
  • Had contact with asbestos while in the military

Veterans with some medical conditions (including those caused by asbestos) are presumed to have a service-related illness, called presumptive conditions. You need not prove your service caused the condition if you have one. But you must meet the service requirements.

As part of your benefits application, you must submit the following documents:

  • Medical records establishing your health condition
  • Service records showing your job or specialty
  • A doctor’s statement there’s a connection between your health condition and your asbestos contact during your military service

You can file for benefits online, in person, via mail, or by fax.

How Might I Have Been Exposed to Asbestos in the Service?

For many decades, service members were exposed to asbestos in many ways, including when they performed the following jobs:

  • Shipyard work
  • Insulation work
  • Maintenance or demolition of old buildings
  • Carpentry and construction
  • Repair of vehicles, ships, and aircraft
  • Firefighting

Veterans serving overseas during hostilities could’ve been exposed to asbestos if older buildings were damaged or destroyed, releasing asbestos fibers into the air.

How Might Asbestos Injure Me?

Inhaling or swallowing asbestos fibers mainly causes lung conditions, and the membrane surrounding the lungs, heart, abdominal cavity, and organs may become the site of mesothelioma. Conditions include:

  • Asbestosis: Lung tissue scarring that causes breathing problems, usually caused by heavy asbestos exposure
  • Pleural plaques: The scarring in the ribcage’s inner surface and area surrounding the lungs, which may cause breathing problems usually not as severe as asbestosis
  • Cancer: They include lung cancer and mesothelioma

If you’re given a disability rating through the benefit application process, you may also be eligible for VA health care and other benefits. The benefit amount depends on several factors.

Can Family Members of Veterans Who Died of Service-Related Mesothelioma Collect Death Benefits?

If you’re a surviving parent, spouse, or child of a veteran who died from a service-related illness, you may qualify for VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, which is a tax-free benefit. The amount depends on your situation.

For a surviving spouse to obtain these benefits, you must show:

  • You lived with the veteran without a break until their death or
  • If you’re separated, you aren’t at fault for the separation

In addition, one of the following must be true:

  • You married the veteran (whose illness started during their service) within 15 years of their discharge
  • You were married for at least one year
  • The two of you had a child

If you remarried, you can receive compensation if one of the following is true and you remarried on or after:

  • December 16, 2003, and you were 57 years old or older at the time
  • January 5, 2021, and you were 55 years old or older at the time

You’ll also need to produce evidence that one of these is true:

  • The veteran died of a service-connected illness or injury
  • They didn’t die of a service-connected illness or injury, but they were eligible to get VA compensation for a service-related total disability for a specific period

Evidence may include military service records, medical test results, and a doctor’s report.

Call Us Today for A Free Consultation

If you or a family member developed mesothelioma or another asbestos-related condition while serving their country in the military, Satterley & Kelley lawyers can respond to your questions, discuss obtaining compensation, and what you should do next. Call our Louisville office at 502-589-5600 or toll-free at 855-385-9532. You may also complete our online contact form to schedule a free initial consultation.