For purposes of this article, the mesothelioma victim in this case will be referred to as J.C.
In a recent significant legal decision, the Washington State Supreme Court allowed a mesothelioma victim to proceed with his lawsuit against his former employer. J.C. was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a rare but aggressive form of cancer, in 2022. He filed a lawsuit against Howmet Aerospace, now Alcoa, in the same year, and since then, he has been trying to get the justice he deserves. His personal injury lawsuit was dismissed during trial and later by an appellate court because of workers' compensation rules. J.C. appealed the case to the Washington Supreme Court, which then ruled in his favor, allowing him to pursue his personal injury case.
According to J.C.'s lawsuit, he was exposed to asbestos while working for Alcoa in the 1960s. In the United States, when an employee suffers a work-related injury or illness, they generally have one legal recourse: workers' compensation. However, in exchange for certain and quick benefits without needing to prove the employer was at fault, workers' compensation laws typically prevent employees from filing personal injury claims against their employers, even in cases of serious illness or injury. However, like with many other laws, there are exceptions to this general rule.
In Washington State, one exception that allows injured or sick employees to file lawsuits against their employers is the deliberate intention exception. This exception allows employees to sue their employers if they acted with “a deliberate intention” to cause harm. Deliberate intention means that an employer knowingly and purposefully caused harm to an employee. This means that the situation was not a case of simple negligence, but one in which the employer knew harm was almost inevitable and chose to act the way they did anyway. This exception formed the foundation of Mr. J.C.'s personal injury claim. To support his case, J.C. pointed to the many colleagues who also developed illnesses due to asbestos exposure, which shows that his former employer willfully disregarded its knowledge of the dangers of asbestos.
Howmet petitioned the trial court, asking that the case be dismissed, and the court granted the petition. When J.C. appealed that decision to an appellate court, the defendant succeeded again. However, Mr. J.C. was victorious when he appealed the trial court's decision to the state's highest court. The court sided with him in a landmark 7-2 decision. According to the Washington Supreme Court, for latent occupational diseases, the “virtual certainty” standard is enough to satisfy the requirement of deliberate intention. The court ruled that an employee can pursue a personal injury lawsuit if they can show that the employer was “virtually certain” the illness would follow.
While a 2014 precedent restricted such lawsuits by excluding long-latency diseases like cancer, the majority of the justices rejected it, acknowledging the need to correct harmful legal interpretations that allow employers who deliberately harm employees to go unpunished. The case was returned to the trial court, which is now required to determine if the defendant willfully disregarded its knowledge of the dangers of asbestos.
Arizona Mesothelioma Lawyers
If you or a loved one were diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact our office to speak to one of our experienced Arizona mesothelioma attorneys about your situation. Our office can help investigate your case and determine if compensation can be sought from negligent parties to help pay for your medical treatment.
