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DuPont Implicated In The Asbestos-Related Death Of The Wife Of A Former Employee
By Thomas J. Lamb at AsbestosHUB.com | December 24, 2009
Ruby Neely died earlier this year due to the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma. After her husband, Lively, worked for over 20 years at the DuPont plant in Old Hickory, Tennessee, she inhaled enough asbestos simply through her daily contact with him to give her the deadly disease. Lively also succumbed to an asbestos-related disease, and their son, Roger, finds this tragedy utterly unacceptable.
Lively’s job at the plant involved hands on, daily interaction with asbestos. He would cut, mold, and fit asbestos insulation and cement.
The dangers of asbestos were known starting in the 1930’s, however, DuPont failed to warn its employees of these dangers until 1970. By this time many of its workers had already died due to their exposure to asbestos. DuPont claims that, “The safety and health of our employees, our neighbors and our community has, and continues to be, DuPont’s highest priority” (emphasis mine).
Really? The highest priority? Why did it take 40 years to decide to let employees know that they were working with materials that could kill them and their families?
Currently, Roger is pursuing a lawsuit on behalf of his mother, who never worked at DuPont and who never worked with asbestos. She merely lived with a man who did. This lawsuit alleges that DuPont should have warned its employees about the dangers of wearing asbestos covered work clothes home and should have given them instructions on the safe management of asbestos.
With its employees, neighbors, and community as its highest priority, the death of employees and their family members should not be required in order to, 40 years later, force DuPont to warn its insulators.
Watch it on Asbestos News Minute.
Topics: Claims, Law, Lawsuits |
