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Australian Man Wins Asbestos Lawsuit, Checks Into Hospital
By asbestoshub | December 29, 2008
When Antonino Lo Presti learned he had had finally won his six-year asbestos compensation battle with the Ford Motor Company, he was admitted to the hospital with a build-up of fluid in his lungs. He was in his hospital bed at Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital when the former mechanic found out Ford had dropped its appeal against the $840,000 payout he won in February 2008.
Antonino Lo Presti made legal history when the Australia Supreme Court ruled he developed the asbestosis that now cripples him while he worked for Ford, and awarded him damages.
Mr. Lo Presti, age 59 and father of three children, now requires bottled oxygen 24 hours a day as a result of inhaling asbestos while working for Ford between 1970 and 1987, servicing asbestos brakes. Mr. Lo Presti’s claim was the first successful asbestos claim by a mechanic against a car company, opening the way for other similar victims.
Ford appealed the Supreme Court’s decision, forcing a continuation of the litigation, which began in 2002.
Connie Lo Presti said:
“I thought they were pretty disgusting,” she said. “They could have done it better to relieve any heartache on the family and on him. I hope they come to the party on this and don’t let us stress any more than they already have.”
Mr. Lo Presti began suffering the effects of asbestos disease in the late 1990s. In his Supreme Court ruling, Judge Andrew Beech said Ford should have known that, without protective measures, asbestos fibers released from the brake linings would cause asbestos diseases.
Australian Asbestos Diseases Society president Robert Vojakovic, who has worked with Mr. Lo Presti through the litigation process, said it had taken too long.
“Ford kept delaying, they kept frustrating. That should never happen again.”
Topics: Claims, Law, Lawsuits |
December 29th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I feel for your family, My family is going through litigation with Ford Motor Co. now. My son was killed driving a lin. with a faulty switch. Ford Denys the switch caused the fire, even though the expert lab results prove the switch internally failed. Ford delays, cancels meetings, and has to be court ordered to be a responsible company. “I am frustrated, And it is happening again” Ford has no heart, it could care less about it’s customers, or it’s workers.