Widespread injuries and even wrongful death cases stemming from toxic torts every single year. When companies allow harmful substances into their workplaces and employees are affected drastically, they may be able to turn to an attorney for their damages. Toxic torts are the legal claims that stem from harmful substances in the workplace. You may have even seen toxic tort cases come out of situations involving adverse, defective medications when a company hides or lies about information concerning medicine on the market. One of the most popular occupational exposure toxic torts you may be familiar with is employees receiving the diagnosis of mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos in the construction workplace.
Often times, toxic torts will be in the form of class action lawsuits, which means that other parties will be seeking compensation for the same cause alongside you. Why? Because when one person is exposed to a toxic chemical in the workplace, many people are exposed. These cases are fought based on three concepts: negligence, strict liability, or fraud.
How Negligence Plays a Role in Toxic Tort Cases
Negligence claims stem from negligent conduct by an employer, which frequently plays a role in toxic tort cases. Perhaps an employer knew that a chemical present in the workplace could cause harm to employees but did nothing to prevent it, such as providing special protective equipment to employees or warning them about the toxic substance in the first place.
The unfortunate fact with many of these cases is that certain illnesses take years of exposure before a victim finds out that they are suffering from a related disease. For example, it can take virtually decades for the symptoms of mesothelioma to show themselves in employees, which led to trouble back when these injury cases were most popular. By that time, crucial pieces of evidence that could have proven your case could sadly be lost, which means that making your claim can be even more difficult. By this time, a defendant company could already be out of business and could argue that a plaintiff must have been exposed in some other way.
Acting Quickly to Preserve Your Case
You want to act quickly as soon as you know that you have been affected by a chemical in the workplace because preserving your case is the most important step. Most people will move forward with a personal injury case, but if you have been injured in the workplace, your recovery will stem from workers’ compensation benefits. Although your employer may have been directly responsible, this is the way that you will be compensated. However, you may still be able to bring a civil claim against a manufacturer, as they would be considered a third party in these claims. If you have worked around materials like asbestos, it is likely there will be multiple parties involved.
Pay close attention to the filing deadlines so that you don’t miss your chance to recover. You usually have several years to make your claim. However, in cases of exposure, you may not develop a disease until many years after exposure, so you have what is called the “discovery rule.” This means that the statute of limitations does not start for you until you know about the injury or disease.
As you can see, there are many elements involved in these cases, making them especially complex. If you have sustained an illness from workplace exposure and now you are struggling to make ends meet after piles of medical bills and lost income, we want to talk to you. Call us at our Georgia office at the Nye Law Group. We want to hear from you today at 855-636-9277.
Sources:
https://www.justia.com/injury/class-actions/toxic-torts/
http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/chemical-exposure-toxic-torts.html
