Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The Louisiana Supreme Court is currently debating the merits of an appeal lodged by two companies held liable for the illness of Ray Rando, who was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in 2005.

According to a report by 2theadvocate.com, a news site produced by The Advocate and WBRZ News 2 in Louisiana, Rando filed suit in Baton Rouge state court, naming his former employers on a construction project with asbestos-involved installation work. The 19th Judicial District Court awarded $3.2 million in damages against eight companies named equally in the suit. Six of the companies settled out of court.

The 1st Court of Appeal upheld the judgment against the two defendants appealing the verdict, Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group Inc. and Jacobs Construction. At that point, they appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Rando worked for the two contractors in 1972. According to the news report, they say Rando’s suit is banned by an exclusivity provision for occupational diseases under the Louisiana Workman’s Compensation Act of 1952, which was in effect when Rando was in their employ. However, the 1st Circuit ruled that version of the worker’s comp law did not include mesothelioma or asbestos in its provisions for work-related disease.

Federal limits for asbestos exposure were not created until 1971.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 11:38 am and is filed under Mesothelioma Links, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.