Connecticut was a center for industries that used asbestos for plant structures and production lines, along with asbestos products that resulted in employee exposure. Along with neighboring Massachusetts and New York, Connecticut was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution that brought about massive employee exposure to asbestos. Railroads, power plants and the mills that lined rivers all utilized asbestos insulation, gaskets and seals for their machinery. There is also a long history of ship construction that continues to this day at Electric Boat; the Navy bases at Groton and elsewhere along the coast brought about asbestos exposure to shipyard workers and sailors, two of the professions most heavily impacted by asbestos exposure during the twentieth century.
Asbestos-Related Deaths in Connecticut
The statistics on asbestos related deaths in Connecticut reflect the heavy rates of worker exposure in the state. A study of death certificates issued between 1979 and 2000 shows that 249 deaths were attributed to asbestosis. The same study shows 250 confirmed deaths due to malignant mesothelioma, with the likely total as high as 411. The federal government began tracking mesothelioma deaths in 1999, reporting 261 occurrences between 1999 and 2005, which suggests that the actual level of asbestos related deaths during preceding decades was much higher.
Legal Rights of Mesothelioma Victims in Connecticut
Thousands of asbestos related damage claims have been filed in Connecticut against employers that allowed employee asbestos exposure. Under Connecticut law, residents have two years after the discovery of personal injury to file a complaint. In the case of asbestos related disease, the statute of limitations begins to run upon diagnosis of the disease. The same two year limitation applies to product liability and wrongful death cases.
Asbestos Injury Cases in Connecticut
There are hundreds of asbestos cases currently consolidated on a court docket in Bridgeport. Historically most of these cases are settled prior to going to trial, but a recent case that did go before the jury resulted in a $2.6 million verdict on behalf of the family of deceased Navy veteran David Fortier, who was exposed to asbestos on a Groton based aircraft carrier where he repaired Allis-Chalmers aircraft engines. The March, 2009 verdict is the first asbestos case to go to trial in Connecticut in 22 years, setting a standard for asbestos settlements in the state that will make defendant corporations like Allis-Chalmers very uncomfortable. Read more about how to to find the right Asbestos lawyer as well as recent Mesothelioma case settlements in addition to lawsuits for Mesothelioma.
