PIPEFITTERS AND ASBESTOS
Pipefitters diagnosed with asbestos-related mesothelioma cancer may be eligible for compensation

Weitz & Luxenberg obtains $2M settlement for pipefitters surviving family after his death from occupational asbestos exposure and mesothelioma cancer.

March 19, 2010 – Both his parents are still alive. His father, 78, is a retired N.J. State University professor. His mother, 72, is a New Jersey homemaker who raised six children. Then there is his wife of 21 years and their two sons. They all outlived him.

That’s because, at the age of 48, after working 31 years as a New Jersey pipefitter in the union construction trade, he was diagnosed with a preventable asbestos-related cancer called mesothelioma. He died seven months after his doctor’s diagnosis.

Mesothelioma is an occupational cancer of the lungs, contracted through regular inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers in confined work areas. The disease is preventable if employers supply workers with protective gear (like respirators), or if asbestos-product manufacturers warned consumers about the health risks of working with their products.

Today, these and other safety precautions are required by law. But in 1979, when the deceased first joined his local pipefitters’ union, such precautions were uncommon in the construction industry, despite knowledge by product manufacturers and employers that working with asbestos materials can lead to fatal diseases.

Pipefitter seeks compensation

Courts today recognize the liability of certain asbestos-product manufacturers in the deaths of thousands of construction workers, including the pipefitter mentioned above.

Shortly after his mesothelioma diagnosis, and upon learning from doctors that his left lung had to be removed, he retained lawyers from the New Jersey law office branch of Weitz & Luxenberg and sued the manufacturers of the asbestos construction products that contributed to his disease. Before he died, his family began receiving settlement checks that by the end of 2009 totaled approximately $2 million.

Hazardous work sites

The plaintiff’s career spanned 1977 to 2008, when pipefitters were exposed to asbestos materials on almost a daily basis. Their work activities put them in direct contact with asbestos-saturated boiler systems, steam pipes, industrial turbines, and high temperature gaskets.

A power plant was one of dozens of New Jersey work sites where asbestos exposure harmed this man. The 1,115-megawatt power plant had plenty of work for pipefitters skilled at repairing old boiler systems and replacing burnt-out gaskets.

“I know for a fact a lot of the old equipment had asbestos,” he testified at a deposition hearing shortly before he died. “Depending on the high temperatures, you use a high temperature gasket. Most of them had asbestos.”

How often did he work with gaskets? “Every job that I’ve ever done.”

At the power plant, he installed and repaired pipe systems that transported water and chemicals, and moderated building temperatures. He was also called upon to work on the power plant’s boiler system and the insulated pipes that go to and from the boilers.

Asked what materials at the power plant contained asbestos, he replied, “Heat stress blankets, for one. They control the temperature of the pipe while you’re welding. The pipe needed to be welded at certain temperatures.”

Why does he think heat stress blankets contained asbestos? “Just by looking at it. It looked flaky and white. It also had to take thousands of degrees of heat. There’s not too many materials I know of that can handle thousands of degrees.”

Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C.

Such nitty-gritty work details came out during a deposition hearing into his case. His law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, is recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent asbestos-injury law firms, and its lawyers repeatedly earn that reputation by obtaining record-setting verdicts and settlements for clients ravaged by mesothelioma.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and seek a free legal consultation on your eligibility to receive compensation for the injury, please notify us through the communication form on this page. Protect your family’s financial future today.

We will pursue your claim with vigilance and help you receive financial compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and suffering. Please know, there is no cost to you until we obtain a settlement or a verdict in your favor.