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Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of Mesothelioma and Asbestosis. California has some of the country’s largest natural asbestos deposits. California workers in certain industries may be at a heightened risk of mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos. This includes Military branches such as the Navy and civilian workers who built, repaired or maintained ships, worked in power plants and buildings with asbestos products. Also many manufacturers of products that contained asbestos were located in California, so its imperative if you were diagnosed with mesothelioma or asbestos to contact our lawyers for an evaluation to recover compensation from a lawsuit or asbestos trust fund claim.
Quick Links:
California Asbestos Regulatory Agencies
California Asbestos & Mesothelioma Statistics
California Laws Concerning Asbestos
California Statute Of Limitations
California Asbestos Trust Funds
California Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements
California Asbestos Exposure Site List
California Mesothelioma Law Firms
California Mesothelioma Diagnoses
California ranks number one in the country for mesothelioma diagnoses. Between 1999 and 2015, 4,295 California residents were diagnosed with this disease. Yuba and Siskiyou Counties are ranked in the 50 counties in the United States with the highest diagnosis rates for mesothelioma. Between 1999 and 2013, a minimum of 1,517 residents were diagnosed with asbestosis and 15,988 were diagnosed with other non-mesothelioma lung cancer.
If you live in the following locations and were diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact our lawyers today:
Los Angeles | San Francisco | San Diego | San Jose | Sacramento | Oakland | Long Beach | Fresno | Bakersfield | Anaheim | Chula Vista | Stockton | Irvine
California Asbestos Laws
California has several laws that can potentially impact a claimant’s ability to recover compensation after being exposed to asbestos.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is the time limit that a person has to file a lawsuit to prevent it from being time-barred. The general statute of limitations in California for a personal injury or wrongful death case is two years, which is usually calculated from the date of the injury or death. However, there are special rules for asbestos-related claims in California. For personal injury claims, the statute of limitations is the later of either:
- Within one year after the date the plaintiff first suffered disability
- Within one year after the date the plaintiff either knew or should have known that such disability was caused or contributed to by such exposure
The date of disability is further defined under California law as not being able to work a person’s regular job because of asbestos exposure. In most cases of asbestos exposure, a person may not be aware of the extent of its impact until many years later, so many people would file a lawsuit within the second option for the statute of limitations.
If asbestos exposure resulted in death, the statute of limitations is the later of either the person’s date of death or within one year from the date the plaintiff either knew or should have known that such disability was caused or contributed to by such exposure.
To preserve your rights to file a timely claim, it is important that you quickly contact a California mesothelioma lawyer when you learn of your diagnosis.
Court Exposure Standard
California courts require mesothelioma claimants to demonstrate the defendant’s product exposed them to asbestos. Plaintiffs must show causation with proof of exposure to a defendant’s asbestos-containing product with reasonable medical probability exposure. Additionally, the plaintiff must show that exposure was a substantial factor in increasing the potential risk of the asbestos-related illness. However, a plaintiff need now show that the fibers from a defendant’s asbestos-containing product were the ones that ultimately caused the disease. The “any exposure” theory was specifically rejected by California courts, which found this only offers speculative evidence of the frequency, regularity and proximity of exposure. However, the courts have expressed their willingness to consider each exposure as a substantial factor in contributing to asbestos-related diseases.
California Asbestos Regulatory Agencies
A number of California state agencies regulate the use, abatement, removal and other rules related to asbestos. These include the California Department of Public Health, Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Cal/OSHA’s Asbestos and Carcinogen Unit, Air Resources Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency.
There are many regulations, safety standards and programs that have been implemented to try to reduce the risk of exposure to asbestos in California. Most asbestos regulations in California are included in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, including asbestos regulations in construction, which includes the following definitions related to asbestos:
- Asbestos – chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite asbestos, anthophyllite asbestos, actinolite asbestos, and any of these minerals that has been chemically treated and/or altered. For purposes of this standard, “asbestos” includes PACM.
- “Asbestos-containing material (ACM)”, means any material containing more than one percent asbestos.
- PACM or “Presumed Asbestos Containing Material – thermal system insulation and surfacing material found in buildings constructed no later than 1980.
Section 8 also includes regulations regarding asbestos used in general industry, asbestos in shipyards and the certification of asbestos consultants and site surveillance technicians. These regulations require employers to take specific steps to ensure that air quality meets certain levels and to document levels of potential asbestos exposure. Before removing asbestos from a building in California, a person should contact Cal/OSHA for a consultation from a qualified asbestos abatement consultant. There are additional laws related to abatement and exposure in school buildings.
California Asbestos Trust Funds
Asbestos trusts were established as part of bankruptcy proceedings or personal injury settlements or verdicts after employers and manufacturers faced daunting lawsuits. These trust funds pay for damages their products and actions caused for previous claimants and future claimants. There are a few active asbestos trusts in California.
The J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust was established in 2006 after the company filed bankruptcy in 2002. Its refractory and insulation products often contained asbestos, which exposed employees and consumers to these dangerous fibers. The trust has handled over 4,500 claims and is currently active. It has estimated funds of $141 million. The company headquarters are in California and the trust is administered out of Reno, Nevada.
The Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation Personal Injury Trust was established in 2006 after filing bankruptcy four years earlier. The company’s insulation and cement products often contained asbestos. This trust has estimated funds of $1.2 billion and is administered out of New Jersey. The company headquarters is located in Foothill Ranch, California.
The Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust is administered out of Nevada. The trust covers liabilities from the Thorpe Insulation Company and Pacific Insulation Company, both of which operated in California. These companies distributed insulation products that contain asbestos. The trust has estimated funds of $389 million.
California Asbestos Site Exposure List
California is home to many superfund sites and other areas that may contain asbestos materials. Some of the more prominent military, commercial and naturally occurring sites include:
- Industrial Waste Processing – Fresno
- Purity Oil Sales, Inc. – Fresno
- Alameda Naval Air Station – Alameda
- California Naval Shipyard – Solano County
- Edwards Air Force Base – Lancaster
- El Toro Marine Corps Air Station – Irvine
- Hunters Point Naval Shipyard – San Francisco
- Mather Air Force Base – Sacramento
- George Air Force Base – Victorville
- Travis Air Force Base – Fairfield
- Castle Air Force Base – Atwater
- March Air Force Base – Riverside
- McClellan Air Force Base – Sacramento
- Barstow Marine Corps Logistics Base – Barstow
- Norton Air Force Base – San Bernardino
- Naval Air Station Moffett Field – Santa Clara
- Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base – San Diego County
- California Zonolite/W.R. Grace & Company – Glendale
- Coalinga Asbestos Mines – Coalinga
- Clear Creek Management Area – San Benito County
- South Bay Asbestos Area – Alviso
California Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements
Because California is home to so many asbestos deposits and has some the highest number of asbestos-related deaths, the state is home to some of the most frequent asbestos lawsuits. Asbestos cases take up a large portion of the docket in some California courts. A sample of the largest asbestos verdicts and settlements found in public news range from $1.25 Million to $200 Million.
- In 2018, a California jury awarded a 68-year old woman a enormous dollar figure who alleged that her mesothelioma was caused by talcum powder contaminated with asbestos. They also awarded additional money in punitive damages.
- In 2018, a California jury delivered a massive verdict in favor of the estate of a man who was exposed to asbestos-containing talc used in paint manufacturing. The jury found Vanderbilt Minerals and Imerys Talc America Inc. were both responsible for marketing, selling and distributing the product. The award included a dollar figure for for malice and another amount in punitive damages.
- A 2018 settlement provided the estate of a San Francisco Bay Area career pipefitter and welder with a large verdict
- A wrongful death case regarding a career machinist was settled in 2018 after the case was brought under the legal theories of negligence and products liability.
- Another 2018 settlement against multiple defendants resulted in a settlement for a person who developed mesothelioma for a case that was filed in the San Francisco County Superior Court.
- Cooper Brothers, FDCC California Inc., Marconi Plastering Company, Inc., and Rudolph & Sietten, Inc. were sued under negligence and products liability theories of liability. The case was settled in 2018.
- Another 2018 settlement against the Alta Building Materials Company and other defendants when a retired law school professor brought a case involving epithelial mesothelioma. Indemnity rights were also assigned in the case.
- A retired 81-year-old longshoreman was awarded an amount in damages by a San Francisco jury after shipyard contractor Triple A Machine Shop, Inc. was negligent and contributed to him developing mesothelioma.
- An Alameda County jury awarded a plaintiff a monetary award in damages against John Crane, Inc., a well-known asbestos packing and gasket manufacturer.
- The family of a contractor who was exposed to asbestos was awarded a sum by the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2012. Defendants included Union Carbide, Riverside Cement and CalPortland.
- A Los Angeles jury in 2010 awarded a woman damages after she developed secondary exposure through her husband who worked with asbestos cement type.
- A man who was diagnosed with asbestosis and his wife were awarded damages. The man had worked at the Hunters Point shipyard repairing boilers and using products from Asbestos Corporation. The defendant appealed, and the judgment was upheld.
- A California jury awarded a man damages in 2002 after he developed mesothelioma from working in shipyards with asbestos. He performed electrical work inside boiler rooms that were being renovated.
- The family of a merchant seaman was awarded an amount against defendant Moore Dry Dock Company in 2001 who had died from mesothelioma.
- Another judgment was made against Moore Dry Dock Company in 2000 when a husband was awarded a very large verdict in damages after his wife was exposed to asbestos while working at the shipyard and from her husband’s clothes who worked as a pipefitter for 30 years.
California Mesothelioma Law Firms
Local mesothelioma law firms assisting individuals affected by mesothelioma across the state of California that may become co-counsel include:
- A law firm that is located in Novato, California and has provided high-quality legal representation to clients for decades. During this time, firm attorneys have represented hundreds of workers in various industries who were exposed to asbestos. They specialize in mesothelioma case representation and also focus on veteran cases. They have successfully obtained enormous dollar figures in settlements and awards for their personal injury clients.
- A law firm that has over many years of experience representing claimants in California. They focus on making cases trial-ready and work to expedite cases per California law. They are not afraid to go to trial, which has allowed them to receive many high dollar verdicts and settlements for clients with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
- A law firm that has represented mesothelioma clients for years. It focuses on helping employees who were injured by asbestos-containing products, as well as third-party lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers. Their attorneys also represent clients who have other medical conditions or who became disabled because of asbestos exposure. They assist California victims from their Oakland office. However, they also counsel clients in other states about using California’s favorable asbestos laws to help out-of-state victims file claims.
- A law firm has acquired millions for mesothelioma victims and victims of other asbestos-related diseases. Their office is located in Novato, California, but they accept clients throughout the state. They are knowledgeable about the various types of mesothelioma and the potential workplaces and other locations that can expose individuals to this deadly disease.
