Leahy Gives Personal Stories about Asbestos Exposures
What follows are comments Senator Patrick Leahy made regarding exposure stories during a hearing on “Asbestos: Mixed Dust and FELA Issues” February 2, 2005:
“It is clear to me that requiring victims to prove that asbestos was not a cause of their injuries in court would preempt state law, shift the burden of proving defenses to plaintiffs and greatly expand the scope of liability protection for corporations without adding a corresponding method of compensation for additional victims.
“My two grandfathers worked as stonecutters in the granite quarries of Vermont and both suffered from silicosis because of their workplace exposures to stone dust. One of my grandfathers died at the age of 35 because of that exposure.
”My grandfathers did not have asbestos-related disease so they would not have qualified for compensation under the proposed trust fund and under the sweeping language in the latest draft bill, they would have faced unprecedented legal hurdles to recover any compensation in a court of law. That is not fair. And it is certainly not acceptable to this Senator.
”Let me be clear, the biggest danger to enacting bipartisan asbestos legislation is overreaching by some interests for immunity from lawsuits brought by victims with legitimate injuries caused by silica or other substances. I hope those pushing this overly broad proposal will take a step back and reconsider.”
Copy of a draft of asbestos litigation: Senator Leahy comments