Family of pattern maker who died from mesothelioma receives compensation

Boyes Turner LLP were instructed by the family of Mr T following his death as a consequence of mesothelioma, an asbestos related disease in February 2014.  

Mr T’s employment history

Mr T was employed as a pattern maker by General Motors UK Limited, more commonly known as “Vauxhall Motors”, at their Luton factory headquarters in Bedfordshire.

Part of Mr T’s working role involved him carving asbestos blocks to a desired shape and size so they could be used as heat resistant moulds for making car parts. This involved Mr T having to scrape, cut, carve, drill and grind asbestos to a 10^th of an inch for precision purposes. Mr T would place his face close to the mould to ensure his work was precision perfect which meant that he was breathing in harmful asbestos fibres continually on a day to day basis. 

Mr T was also exposed to other asbestos within the premises, such as that found on pipe work as lagging.

Vauxhall gave Mr T no personal protective equipment such as face masks to protect him from breathing in the toxic asbestos fibres and no ventilation equipment was provided.

Mr T’s diagnosis

Mr T was sadly diagnosed with mesothelioma, a debilitating form of lung cancer, resulting in severe breathlessness, chest pain, insomnia, loss of appetite and nausea. Mr T passed away in hospital a few months after his diagnosis.

Boyes Turner’s investigation of the claim

Following Mr T’s passing his widow decided to contact Boyes Turner after reading about our specialism in pursuing claims for asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma. We decided to investigate Mr T’s claim in order to obtain justice for Mr T and his family. 

Our specialist team of asbestos claims lawyers set about the painstaking task of carrying out a full investigation into Mr T’s employment history, tracing witnesses to his asbestos exposure and obtaining documents to assist in proving that Vauxhall had been negligent. 

Mr T’s legal claim

We sent a full letter of claim to General Motors UK Limited (“the defendant”) setting out various allegations of negligence and requesting that the defendant admit liability for Mr T’s asbestos related disease.

After the defendants investigation of the claim liability was denied so we issued proceedings in the Royal Courts of Justice, London in an attempt to gain justice for Mr T and his family.

Mr T’s Trial

Following the issue of proceedings the defendant eventually conceded liability for Mr T’s mesothelioma though it disputed most of the specifics of the claim put forward by Mr T’s family. As there was still a dispute between the parties Mr T’s family were forced to endure a gruelling legal battle lasting more than 12 months to obtain the compensation it was entitled to.

Over two years after Mr T’s death, justice was finally obtained for him and his family when settlement terms were agreed between the parties.

Mrs T was delighted with the fact that we had managed to obtain justice for her late husband and that her family would receive some compensation for the loss they had suffered. Mrs T in particular was mindful of the fact that we had refused to accept the defendants allegations that elements of the claim were not pursuable and fought on tirelessly to obtain the compensation her family was entitled to.

Boyes Turner’s specialist asbestos disease lawyers

Boyes Turner are one of the largest legal services providers in the Thames Valley and operate one of the largest specialist industrial disease teams in the country.

We pride ourselves on being able to take on cases such as Mr T’s and to obtain justice in the face of such adversity. The success in cases like Mr T’s conforms with our ethos of obtaining justice for mesothelioma victims and ensuring asbestos victims and their families are properly compensated.