Unite to take asbestos victims’ fight to supreme court

Unite the union has today (Monday 1 November) confirmed it will go to the supreme court to challenge a court of appeal ruling that threatens to deprive thousands of asbestos cancer victims and their families of their rightful compensation.

In a landmark ruling earlier this month the court of appeal decided that in some asbestos cases the employer’s liability insurance is triggered not by the exposure to asbestos in the workplace, but by the development of the fatal cancer, mesothelioma.

Because symptoms of mesothelioma only begin decades after asbestos dust was inhaled the ruling means thousands of British workers who develop the disease could be deprived of compensation.

Unite joint general secretary Tony Woodley said: “The way the insurers refused to pay out in these cases is a kick in the guts to every family that’s watched a loved one suffer a painful and degrading death from mesothelioma.

“Insurers sold their policies knowing that employers and workers' families would rely on them. Now they’re trying to weasel out of paying based on fancy legal argument and policy small print.

“Unite will put its full weight behind this appeal. We will pursue it because we want to see justice done to innocent victims and their families.”

Ian McFall, head of asbestos policy at trade union law firm Thompsons Solicitors said: "Asbestos victims will welcome the decision by Unite to pursue the appeal to the highest court in the land and the union's principled stance in opposing the insurers' latest legal challenge."


Notes for Editors:

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by exposure to asbestos. There is no cure and around 2,000 people a year are currently diagnosed with the disease in the UK.
For decades the insurance industry accepted that the employers' liability insurer on cover at the time of the asbestos exposure occurred is liable to respond to the mesothelioma claim. A number of insurers seized upon a 2006 Court of Appeal case, [Bolton MBC v Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd [2006] which ruled that public liability insurance is triggered not by the exposure but by the development of the mesothelioma which occurs decades later. The insurers in the trigger issue test case argue that the same interpretation should be applied in employers' liability mesothelioma claims.
Unite is backing the appeal in Edwards v Excess Insurance Company Ltd, one of six test cases which were the subject of a court of appeal ruling on 8 October 2010
Charles Michael O’Farrell died aged 81 in October 2003 just two months after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. His daughter Maureen Edwards is pursuing the claim on behalf of the family following her father’s death. Her claim is backed by Unite the union, of which her father was a member.
Charles was exposed to asbestos while working for Humphreys & Glasgow Limited as a steel erector from 1964 to 1967. During his employment he was based at the Linacre Gas Works in Bootle, Merseyside where he came into contact with asbestos on a daily basis. Before he died he said he was never warned that asbestos was dangerous. The family was awarded £152,000 in compensation against Humphreys & Glasgow Limited by the county Court in 2007. Excess Insurance Company Ltd insured Humphreys & Glasgow at the time Charles worked for the company.