Rick worked in a factory for over 30 years. Back in the 1980’s, when he first be

Question

Rick worked in a factory for over 30 years. Back in the 1980’s, when he first began working at Universal Mills, Inc. (“Universal”), some of the insulation they used to manufacture their products contained asbestos. The company provided jackets, safety masks, and respirators to their employees while working on the manufacturing floor, which was within OSHA standards at that time. Rick used the provided masks and respirators while on the factory floor, but during breaks he sometimes left on his jacket that he wore while on the factory floor.

In the 1990’s, when the awareness of health effects of asbestos became harder to dispute, Universal stopped using asbestos in their manufacturing altogether, and went with a different material to insulate their products, which was found to be much safer.

Rick retired last year from Universal. He was just recently diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lung cancer that has been definitively proven to be linked to asbestos exposure. Please answer the following question:

- Does Rick have any recourse to sue his former employer under a claim of product liability? In explaining your answer, please discuss whether the company has any defenses under the theory of product liability you chose.

Explanation / Answer

These type of scenarios required a very deep study of all the facts which include the number of such cases, medical history of the individual, does rick was exposed to asbestos at any other place also, can the exposure to asbestos in 1980's cause any medical issue after 30 years and many more facts.

However as per law if the company is providing all the precaution to the employees in case of any hazardous substance exposure than it is very unlikely to be claimed for any disease caused by the hazardous substance. It is mandatory on the part of the organization to provide all the precaution to the employees in case of any hazardous process. But if employee ignores the precaution provided to him than the company is not liable for any claim.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse R
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.