An asbestos lung cancer lawsuit has been filed by a man who worked as a welder, welder-diver and boat captain for 23 years.

Plaintiff William B. alleges he was employed as a seaman by a variety of employers. During those years, he says, he worked with and around asbestos-containing products such as insulation, lagging, friction products, pads, jackets, wallboard, cements, pipe covering, packing, gaskets and cloth.

He claims he also was exposed to asbestos through the use of welding rods that contained asbestos in their flux and coatings and from welding blankets that were made of asbestos. When he went diving, he was exposed to asbestos from the air filters that contained the carcinogenic material, according to his asbestos lung cancer lawsuit. He was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer in March 2015.

Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit Alleges Negligence

According to the asbestos lung cancer lawsuit, the defendants allegedly were negligent on several counts.

William’s former employers allegedly failed to warn him of the inherent dangers of asbestos and neglected to provide him with necessary protection from the substance. Employers allegedly failed to provide proper ventilation, shower areas and protective clothing.

Moreover, William and his coworkers allegedly were not told about what asbestos was or how it could be avoided, nor were they provided with safety procedures for handling or removing asbestos.

The asbestos lung cancer lawsuit says: “The defendants were aware, or should have been aware, of the dangers of asbestos prior to the times when plaintiff was exposed.”

As far back as 1928, doctors became suspicious of the link between asbestos exposure and health issues when F. W. Simson, M.D. wrote a study detailing the effects of asbestosis in South African mine workers. The British Medical Journal published his article.

Shortly after, E.R.A. Merewether, M.D. came out with the “Report on Effects of Asbestos Dust on the Lungs and Dust Suppression in the Asbestos Industry” in 1930, documenting the health hazards of asbestos exposure.

The U.S. government enacted the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act in 1936 to require that certain standards for working conditions were upheld where government contracts were fulfilled.  The Act prohibited conditions that were “unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to the health and safety of employees engaged in the performance of the contract.” The asbestos lung cancer lawsuit alleges William’s employers violated the Act.

Over the years, many other studies documented the link between asbestos exposure and resulting health problems.

In 1971, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deemed asbestos a hazardous air pollutant. Rules regarding asbestos dust per cubic centimeter were devised and amended over the years, and “defendants ignored these standards,” according to the lawsuit.

“As a proximate result of the defendants’ acts and omissions, the plaintiff was caused to have lung cancer,” alleges the asbestos lung cancer lawsuit.

The Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 2:17-cv-04781-NJB-KWR in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.