ASBESTOS IN CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Monterey County courthouse workers reach settlement in asbestos lawsuits

Asbestos in construction materials is an industry problem statewide.

The attorneys at the personal injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg have decades of experience defending victims’ rights in practice areas that include: accidents/general injury, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, and environmental pollutants. Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of asbestos-injured workers since 1986.

News Bulletin:

November 9, 2009 - Attorneys, judges and courthouse employees (a total of 190 plaintiffs) have reached a tentative settlement after filing lawsuits charging that they were injured by airborne asbestos fibers released during construction work at the Monterey County Superior Court building in Salinas, Calif.

Terms of the settlement are confidential, but all 190 employees will be compensated, according to reports in the Salinas Californian and The Associated Press.

The lawsuits were filed in 2006 and 2007, when courthouse employees sought medical expenses and damages for lung diseases they said were caused by asbestos exposure during two years of demolition and construction work. The lawsuits were combined into a single case and moved to Santa Clara County earlier this year.

Asbestos in the West

California and Los Angeles record more asbestos-related deaths than any state or city in the country, according to a study by the EWG Action Fund, a non-profit environmental research group headquartered in Washington, D.C.

The metropolitan areas around San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego are the most affected.

California has 12 counties on the organization’s list of the Top 100 Counties in the United States recording deaths due to asbestos – a frightening statistic matched only by Florida and New Jersey.

Asbestos in construction

Shipyard workers, construction workers, auto mechanics and military veterans are at the greatest risk for asbestos poisoning, as these are the occupations in which asbestos use has been most prevalent.

Navy shipyards in Southern California were hotbeds for work-site exposure. Thousands of shipyard workers have died of occupational asbestos exposure since WWII.

Time to seek justice

For the past 23 years, Weitz & Luxenberg has obtained record-setting verdicts for asbestos-injured workers. And since then, the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients harmed by occupational asbestos exposure and disease.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and seek a free legal consultation, please notify us through the communication form on this page. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, lost wages and suffering.