An industrial disease specialist, employed by Irwin Mitchell, settled a case for the sum of £265,000 for a man who had been exposed to asbestos in previous employment which sadly resulted in his diagnosis of mesothelioma, a terminal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
Mr E was diagnosed with mesothelioma on 3 February 2011 when he was only 64 years old. Before symptoms arose from this illness, Mr E ran his own company but was unable to continue working due to the resulting effects of the disease.
Mr E began his employment with Fisher Shopfitters Limited in 1966, with his employment later being transferred to Fisher Group Limited, initially as an office assistant, as an assistant to the contracts engineer and later as contracts engineer. During this time Mr E recalls being regularly exposed to asbestos. He frequently worked in close proximity to carpenters and joiners, who were ripping out ceilings and partitions in buildings prior to the installation of new ceilings and partitions and, often, false floors. The existing building materials being ripped out included asbestos based materials such as asbestos partitions and ceiling tiles. They also included asbestos lagged plant, pipework and ducting. Ripping out the asbestos based materials caused substantial quantities of asbestos dust and fibres to be released into his working environment. Mr E was never warned of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos by his employer.
Mr E’s symptoms date back to 2009, when he began to have trouble breathing and had a chesty cough. Following a number of investigations, including chest x-ray, CT scan and a biopsy his diagnosis of mesothelioma was confirmed. He underwent an extensive operation designed to strip away some of the tumour and improve his prognosis, which led to him being hospitalised for 10 weeks following his contraction of MRSA and septicaemia.
Mr E instructed Irwin Mitchell to pursue a claim for negligence against his former employers. We urgently investigated the claim and successfully secured agreement from his former employers that Mr E had been negligently exposed to asbestos during the course of his employment.
Hayley Hill, Associate and workplace injuries specialist at our Birmingham office, acted for the client and said: “Although the compensation paid by his former employers will not restore the effects that the negligence has had on Mr E’s life, the compensation will help provide for his wife, his children and his nine grandchildren in the future. We were extremely pleased to be able to give Mr E that peace of mind through the successful conclusion of his claim during his lifetime and without the need to commence Court proceedings".
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, our expert mesothelioma solicitors could help you claim compensation. See our Asbestos-Related Disease Claims Guide for more information.
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