Galveston Woman Sues on Behalf of Father's Asbestos Death

On Wednesday, April 15, Galveston resident Laura Bodin filed suit against Todd Pacific Shipyard Corp., Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Georgia-Pacific Corp., and Union Carbide Corp., charging all in the death of her father, Pedro Perez, a seaman who worked for Great Lakes in the early 1960s. Bodin seeks recovery under the Jones Act.

The Jones Act (46 U.S.C. § 688) makes provision for maritime workers to seek legal recourse when injured by an employer's negligence. Since seamen are often exposed to various toxic substances ranging from asbestos to tuolene, causation is simply a matter of demonstrating employer negligence "in even the slightest part".

Because ship owners have an obvious duty to provide seamen with vessels that are reasonably safe and fit in all ways and appurtenances, including equipment, their equal obligation to provide cures or redress to sick and injured personnel has become a time-honored obligation based on the status of seamen - who can't escape their workplace - and the peculiar relationship that results. All that is necessary is that the injury or illness occur during service.
Where injury or illness is the result of a product carried on the ship, but not owned by the ship's owner, redress must be sought under various protective statutes. In the case of asbestos, this would be the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Bodin is seeking damages under the Jones Act, on the basis that Perez, a seaman, contracted mesothelioma while working on board a vessel owned by Great Lakes. Moreover, Perez's family insists that he was never made aware of the dangers of asbestos during his service for Great Lakes.
Co-defendants in the case, including Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Union Carbide Corp., are accused of improperly manufacturing, selling, transporting and installing said asbestos. The case has been assigned in Galveston County, to the 405th District Court under Judge Wayne Mallia.

The difficulty for a jury, in this case, may be apportioning blame because employers frequently resist Jones Act status in litigation, largely because seamen are entitled to certain types of compensation not available to other workers, namely pain and suffering.

In addition, the mandate to provide "maintenance and cure" puts said employers under an obligation to provide some remediation even where there is no proven negligence. Another obstacle is the fact that Jones Act vessel status is constantly evolving, in effect putting more seamen under Jones Act coverage than previously warranted it.

Asbestos, a fibrous substance found in certain rock formations, is the only known cause of mesothelioma. Used in insulation blankets or tape around steam pipes and boilers, as well as in some floor tiles and tile adhesives, or acoustical ceiling tiles, asbestos also causes asbestosis and digestive system cancers ranging from pharyngeal cancer to rectal cancer.

Sources: SMSLegal, Southeast Texas Record

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