Families Win Damages for Low-Level Asbestos Exposure

The families of two women who died of mesothelioma have won compensation following a landmark decision by the Supreme Court. In each case, there was a sole known source of exposure to asbestos dust and the extent of the exposure was found to be very small.

Dianne Willmore, who died aged 49, was exposed to asbestos whilst a pupil at Bowring Comprehensive School in Merseyside during the 1970s. Enid Costello, who died aged 74, was exposed to asbestos whilst working as a secretary for Greif (UK) Ltd. at its packaging factory in Ellesmere Port.

Because medical science cannot, as yet, pinpoint which asbestos fibre or fibres caused a person to develop the disease, the conventional causation test – whereby a claimant must show that it is more likely than not that the harm suffered was caused by the defendant’s breach – does not apply in mesothelioma cases. The rules are relaxed in such cases so that the test for liability is whether or not the claimant has been wrongfully exposed to asbestos, thus creating a ‘material increase in risk’ of them developing the disease.

Although there is no known minimum level of exposure to asbestos below which there is no risk of developing mesothelioma, the defendants argued that the relaxation of the rules did not apply in cases where there was only one defendant and the level of the exposure to asbestos was very low. They sought to establish a threshold whereby exposure to asbestos would not be deemed material unless it doubled the normal level of exposure to asbestos from the atmosphere in general. However, this argument was rejected by the Court, which ruled that the current test for causation should stand.

Mrs Willmore is thought to be the first person to be awarded damages for exposure to asbestos whilst a school pupil. Awards have, however, been made to school caretakers and teachers who developed an asbestos-related disease. Between 1980 and 2000, an average of 10 teachers a year died from mesothelioma and the figure rose to 25 deaths a year between 2002 and 2005.