Workers' Compensation: Mesothelioma: Employer Held Liable for Wife's Asbestos Related Death

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was held liable for the death of an asbestos worker's wife death from mesothelioma. A Federal Court in Alabama held that the the employer held that the employer had a duty to protect the wife a nuclear plant employee from take home asbestos exposure.

The wife, a household contact of asbestos fiber, developed pleural mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos on her husband's clothes.

The Court held that there was foreseeability of harm to wife was evident from the very nature of relevant Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)regulations and employer's internal standards, which aimed to prevent asbestos fibers from clinging to an employee's street clothes, skin, or hair and being carried off of employer's property, and employer was party in best position to protect wife, as relatively simple, low-cost methods which, if implemented as directed both by federal law and employer's internal policy, may have prevented wife's contraction of mesothelioma.

Bobo v Tennessee Valley Authority, 138 F. Sup3d 1285 (2015)

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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