 | ||
| Cycling Compensation Claim After seeking profesional advice from Attwood Solicitors I received £12,000 in compensation following my accident...Thanks again for all your help and advice.. |
£23,300 asbestos compensation for Michelin worker
Legal experts believe a High Court victory could open the floodgates for hundreds of former Michelin workers to sue for compensation after being exposed to asbestos dust.
It comes after retired pipe fitter Roy Ibbs, who is suffering from respiratory disease caused by exposure to asbestos, won £23,300 in compensation from former employer Michelin Tyre Plc.
Mr Ibbs, of Trent Vale, was described by High Court judge Mr Justice Mackay as an "active, industrious working man" before being struck down by illness.
The pensioner, who was too poorly to attend the London High Court to give evidence yesterday, worked for Michelin between 1969 and 1985 and was exposed to, "frequent and heavy" clouds of asbestos dust, according to his barrister Colin McCaul QC.
He now suffers from asbestosis, as well as a respiratory disability which leaves him breathless.
He lives with an increased risk of developing mesothelioma, an incurable cancer of the lining of the lungs, and asbestos related lung cancer.
Mr Justice Mackay said married Mr Ibbs, "is unable to play as active a role as he would like in the life of his family" due to his health problems.
The judge said he would have awarded the 78-year-old a larger claim had he not been suffering from two other conditions, neither of which are attributable to asbestos exposure.
Mr McCaul, said: "In order to develop asbestosis, you need to have been exposed to a significant amount of asbestos dust. There must have been a significant amount of dust at the factory. It's probably fair to say there were former colleagues exposed to the same conditions."
The exposure seems to have come from maintenance work on pipes layered with asbestos.
Haydon Attwood, of Attwood Solicitors, commented : "After this ruling I would have thought others would follow."
Mr Ibbs, who declined to comment, worked at the company's Campbell Road, Stoke, factory, from the 1960s, when it employed more than 9,000 workers.
By the 1980s the motor industry was hit by a rise in oil prices and the firm started cutting back on production.
It now employs more than 1,000 workers. About 200 of these are in the same engineering and maintenance department Mr Ibbs worked in.
After giving his ruling, Mr Justice Mackay was told Mr Ibbs had been offered £20,000 by lawyers acting for Michelin's insurers to settle out of court.
During the case they argued damages should be about £12,000, while Mr Ibbs's legal team asked for about £35,000.
A Michelin spokesman said: "The court has made its judgment and we respect that."
If you feel that you may have been exposed to similar conditions within your working life then contact us now. Your claim will never cost you a penny and you'll keep 100% of any compensation. Contact one of our experts now.
| ||
| Cycling Compensation Claim After seeking profesional advice from Attwood Solicitors I received £12,000 in compensation following my accident...Thanks again for all your help and advice.. |
