At last, courts have recognized loss of enjoyment of life as a separate damage element for which to base a plaintiff’s recovery in an asbestos-related personal injury lawsuit tried to a jury. In 2006, in the case of McGee v. AC&S, Inc., the Louisiana Supreme Court gave more hope to a population of injured employees seeking compensation from employers, including some of the wealthiest and most successful companies in the nation, for asbestos-related diseases.
Mesothelioma, a particularly deadly disease caused and perpetuated by work-related asbestos exposure, has been and continues to be the subject of numerous lawsuits brought by employees seeking compensation for their injuries and ultimate deaths. As the incidence of mesothelioma rises and employers’ liability costs increase, those employers just as consistently strive to conceal the dangers of asbestos and asbestos products to employees and juries alike. The uncovering of employers’ concealment has, in turn, lead to large jury verdicts in lawsuits based on work-related asbestos exposure.
While some propose a schedule of awards to litigants in asbestos cases so as to limit recovery on the whole, the recent ruling by the Louisiana Supreme Court eliminated the hindering concept of a schedule in that case and decided instead to allow for each damage item, including that for loss of enjoyment of life, to be listed as a separate element on a jury ballot so that juries may vote accordingly. Therefore, a jury will be permitted to consider those elements which it previously had been prevented from considering and compensating a plaintiff in his ultimate jury reward.
To learn more, contact a Mesothelioma Lawyer at Williams Kherkher by calling 1.800.220.9341.