When asked to imagine a person who is exposed to asbestos during their employment what do you see? Is it a carpenter using a hand saw to cut large sheets of the material? What about a plumber, hands covered in a lagging materials whilst working on pipework in a boiler room? James*, an ordinary office worker didn’t fit either one of those stereotypes but was still exposed to deadly asbestos fibres during his almost 20-year Government agency career. After learning of his mesothelioma diagnosis in December 2021, James contacted the asbestos support group HASAG and was put in touch with Melloney. Circumstances of asbestos exposure Office jobs are stereotypically safe. Encountering hazardous materials is rare. However, James was working in particularly old and decrepit buildings in the South of England between 1981 and 1998. The offices were all particularly run down. James worked directly under old asbestos ceiling tiles which, when disturbed during the installation of computer systems, caused asbestos dust and debris to rain down from the ceiling onto his desk. This maintenance work, which was often completed over the weekends, meant that James would return to the office on Mondays to a dusty desk. Something most individuals would find frustrating, let alone when the dust has potentially life-threatening consequences. While working in one office James regularly ordered, stored and distributed stationery to other staff members. The stationery was stored in the basement and the pipework throughout the basement was lagged with asbestos and in poor condition. In addition to regularly having to go down into the basement to collect items stored there, James also recalled clearing out the basement over a weekend in 1984. He recalled the extra circular cleaning as being very dirty and dusty work and this sadly involved his exposure to asbestos. Onset of symptoms James and his wife Margaret* loved walking. They had a dog and in his retirement James had aspirations of doing long-distance walks. In November 2021 James found himself more breathless and more fatigued than usual on his walk. The increased breathlessness left James taken aback, although he had started to notice an increase in difficulty when walking in the few weeks prior. Knowing that breathlessness could be indicative of various health complications James consulted his GP and was prescribed antibiotics. This medication did not improve his condition and James was later referred for a chest x-ray which he underwent in early December 2021. James’s breathlessness appeared to be caused by a collapsed lung, with James being referred for further treatment at Guy's Hospital in London. During a talc pleurodesis nodules were found on his lungs, leading to a biopsy. As a result of the biopsy, James was diagnosed with mesothelioma in mid-December 2021. James’s condition was such that treatment was not necessary initially but when he started immunotherapy treatment in April 2023, he began to experience several side effects. Following treatment in early July 2023, he became progressively more and more unwell so the treatment was paused, although a scan in early July 2023 showed no progression of the mesothelioma. From July 2023 onwards James’s condition deteriorated, and he unfortunately passed away in October 2023. The claims process Upon learning of his diagnosis, James contacted the asbestos support group HASAG and was put in touch with Melloney, who quickly organised a home visit to take further instructions regarding James’s employment history and exposure to asbestos. Records from James’s treating medical team and to confirm his employment history were requested, with a lifetime statement being taken to preserve James’s evidence. Being a low exposure case, Melloney received a preliminary opinion from both a barrister and an expert engineer to assess prospects of success. Letters of claim were then submitted to initiate the claim and medical evidence concerning James’s condition prognosis was sought from a consultant physician. Melloney continued to push for liability responses from the defendants, although she seemingly encountered hurdle after hurdle. A supplementary statement was taken from James to update his journey since diagnosis and additional medical evidence was sought from the consultant physician. Still no liability response was provided. Melloney and the barrister decided to narrow their aim and pursue only one defendant and proceedings were therefore commenced against that sole defendant. Melloney raced to secure a liability decision from the defendant as James’s condition deteriorated. A first court hearing was listed to set a timetable for the progression of the claim to trial. Melloney’s intention was to ask the Court to enter judgment against the defendant but as James’s condition was deteriorating, she worked tirelessly to secure an admission of liability in advance of that hearing. Thankfully, in advance of the court hearing and James’s untimely death soon after, the defendant agreed to judgment being entered and to an interim payment of £50,000.00. Despite his deteriorating condition, thankfully James was aware of this before he passed away, such that he knew his claim would succeed and that his wife would be taken care of. After James’s death Margaret continued with the claim and, after the necessary administrative tasks were completed to allow Margaret to continue acting in the Court proceedings as the representative of James’s estate, attention was turned to valuing the claim as a fatal claim. Updated expert evidence was obtained and details of the losses to be claimed were submitted to the defendant, enabling settlement negotiations to take place and a satisfactory settlement was agreed to conclude matters. This was a difficult low exposure claim, but Melloney’s perseverance paid off and ensured a favourable outcome for Margaret. *Names have been anonymised For more information about how the mesothelioma and asbestos disease claims team can help you or your loved ones after a diagnosis of an asbestos related disease, please contact the team by email on asbestos@boyesturner.com or by telephone on 0118 952 7199.
