Shares in an Australian Building firm have gone through the floor following indications that the firm has to settle asbestos and mesothelioma claims that amount to over US $1.5 billion.

The firm, James Hardie Industries, was apparently expecting to have to pay only a tenth of this figure, and as such had only set aside a fraction of the money required to settle the lawsuits and compensation claims arising from asbestos contamination health issues.

The Chief Executive of James Hardie Industries, Peter Macdonald, was accused by lawyers of misleading the Australian Stock Market, with claims that the firm had adequate funds to deal with all of the settlements. However, it turns out that the firm has only a fraction of the funds required. Lawyers also accused the firm of misleading their investors in the same way. However, James Hardie Industries have stated that nobody was misled.

Asbestos is the known cause of a range of health problems, including mesothelioma, a deadly cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. As a building firm, James Hardie Industries has been responsible for exposing many of its employees to asbestos, which subsequently resulted in high levels of mesothelioma diagnoses amongst employees. This in turn has resulted in the many lawsuits filed against the products manufacturer.