Asbestos victims’ rights are under attack. State legislation (AB-19/SB-13) has been introduced by Rep. Andre Jacque and Sen. Glenn Grothman that would allow asbestos corporations to delay justice and deny accountability for Wisconsin workers dying of asbestos diseases. The legislation was so broadly written that it also could apply to a number of other dangerous products found in the workplace.
AB-19/SB-13 adds more regulations and bureaucracy to asbestos cases by requiring dying asbestos victims to chase small and insignificant recoveries from asbestos trusts before moving forward on their own case in state court. This may mean that mesothelioma victims, with a life expectancy of less than one year after diagnosis, would likely die before putting forth the facts in their case.
SB-13/AB-19 is just the latest effort in a campaign to delay and deny justice to people who are injured or who die as a result of asbestos exposure. The legislation is an attack on Wisconsin’s sickest and weakest citizens, who through no fault of their own, have a deadly disease.
We must stop this attack on asbestos victims. We need to speak out against this great injustice.
A public hearing has been scheduled on AB-19 in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Thursday, April 4 at 11:05 a.m. in Room 417N at the State Capitol in Madison.
Here are four things you can do to help defeat this legislation:
- Come to the press conference before the public hearing to lend your support to fight AB-19. The press conference will start at 10 a.m. in the State Assembly Parlor in the State Capitol.
- Come to the public hearing and register your opposition to AB-19.
- Come to the public hearing and testify against the legislation, particularly if you know someone who has suffered from asbestos exposure.
- Call, write or email your state representative and state senator and urge them to defeat this anti-worker legislation.
Links to Senate Bill 13 and Assembly Bill 19. The bills were referred to the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee and the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Click here to view "Dying to Get Their Day in Court" story by Tim Morrissey of Wisconsin Public News Service on 2/25/13.
Click to view article "Critics say bill would hold up asbesots lawsuits until plaintiffs die" by Steve Elbow of the Capital Times on 3/1/13.
Asbestos Facts
- Asbestos diseases have killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, including many Wisconsin citizens. This epidemic continues with 10,000 Americans dying every year.
- Many of those killed are America’s workers – insulators, pipefitters, plumbers, electricians, railroad workers, carpenters, painters, ironworkers, boilermakers, masons, auto mechanics and laborers – service members, and family members who were exposed to asbestos brought into the home from the workplace.
- Asbestos corporate executives knew by the 1930s that asbestos was deadly, but callously covered it up. One corporate memo states, “if you have enjoyed a good life while working with asbestos products why not die from it?”
- Asbestos victims have sought relief through our civil justice system for the astronomical medical bills they face and the harm asbestos has caused.
- Asbestos victims often have to hold multiple corporations accountable because they were exposed to many asbestos-containing products marketed by different corporations and each corporation is responsible for causing the disease.
- Many asbestos manufacturers have sought to shed their asbestos liability by forming bankruptcy trusts to pay asbestos victims. But, these trusts pay a small fraction of the harm caused and victims still must go to state courts to hold non-bankrupt corporations accountable.
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