April 18th, 2007

In a test case held in the UK last year, the courts decided that dock workers that had been exposed to asbestos and had developed asbestos related diseases could be able to receive compensation from the government; however, the decision of the court was appealed. The test case was that of sixty-five year old Robert Thompson, who suffers from an asbestos related disease.

The Court of Appeals in the UK has now upheld the decision of the lower court, and has agreed that dock workers that have been affected by asbestos related illnesses can claim compensation from the government. This means that hundreds of former dock workers that have been affected, or the relations of those that have died from asbestos related disease, will be able to sue the government.

This is good news for these hundreds of dock workers and their families, as it means that they can make a claim that would otherwise have been denied if the Court of Appeals had decided otherwise.

One lawyer stated: "This is a huge victory for the claimants, and other former dock workers, whose lives have been blighted by devastating latent diseases, such as asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma. The DTI should now accept full responsibility for past wrongs and not look for some legal escape route to avoid paying compensation to victims, whose only crime was to breathe the air at work".