Asbestos Exposure

[Sam K]

What is the name of your state? NY

Is it legal for an employee to sue its employer, ( building Managment company) for Exposure to asbestos even if there is no diagnoses medical condition? The company has been illegally removing asbestos for sometime and the employee has documented everything with pictures, dates, places, tape recorded meetings where it asbestos removal was admitted to. OSHA has been called and has conducted investigations, and its reports are still pending, but its certain that they will be held in violation. This illegal abatement without concern for safety has occured many many times. The company is now asking employee to sign a confidentiality agreement in return for severence pay.


Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam

[seniorjudge]

Originally Posted by Sam K

What is the name of your state? NY

Is it legal for an employee to sue its employer, ( building Managment company) for Exposure to asbestos even if there is no diagnoses medical condition? The company has been illegally removing asbestos for sometime and the employee has documented everything with pictures, dates, places, tape recorded meetings where it asbestos removal was admitted to. OSHA has been called and has conducted investigations, and its reports are still pending, but its certain that they will be held in violation. This illegal abatement without concern for safety has occured many many times. The company is now asking employee to sign a confidentiality agreement in return for severence pay.


Any info on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sam

double post

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=396067[/url]

[Sam K]

Is it legal to sue for ongoing exposure to asbestos even if no diagnosis has been made now. Obviously asbestos diagnosis take years to develop and if the person has solid proof that this exposure was happening on a regular basis, can you sue for exposure now?

Thanks,
Sam

[CraigFL]

I'm curious about this too.. How can you sue when there is no proof of damages? I've sniffed a lot of asbestos in my 58 years and yet to have a problem.

[Sam K]

OSHA guidelines have been put in place for a reason and thats to protect people. Asbestos removal is supposed to be done under certain controlled conditions and by licensed professionals with proper permits in place with prior notification too. Even though there are no damages it is resonable to assume that there could be disasterous damages to humans if these guidelines are ignored. Can you sue, if you have proof that these guidelines were and still are being blatantly ignored, causing you to be exposed.

Thanks

[Beanie711]

You can sue for basically anything.

The problem is whether or not you will win.

If you're serious about this, you should be consulting with a lawyer to see what they have to say.

[Hoe1979]

What was the employer removing that caused the exposure?

[Beanie711]

Actually, now that I think about it...

If this happened on company time, then it's considered WC. In that case, your sole remedy (for any damages, which we know you have none so far) for compensation is through WC. WC exists so you are unable to sue your employer for any accidents/injuries that occur during your working hours.

At least, that is how I understand the law.

[byrd42]

Just because there maybe WC Coverage (guessing OP's employer does), you still can file suit. He HAS NO damages (has not even been diagnosed) thus far, so the answer is no. If he was diagnosed later down the road, the WC Carrier will pay for all medical involved, but settlement for suit is not paid out until death (wrongful death). That is how it works for my Ins. Co. and it's usually only a couple thousand. But I am just speculating on my insurance carrier's ways.

Also, if they are asking you to sign off on any future medical claims, DON'T Do it, especially if you have been exposed to asbestos. That will wave your right to claim later. Even if you are no longer employed by them.