James A. Miller, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad Company from 1946 until 1951, has filed a complaint in St. Clair County District Court charging the company with negligence for failing to protect him against the asbestos-related disease he subsequently developed.
The complaint, dated February 13, asks for $50,000 in damages plus costs and other relief as the court deems appropriate. Miller, a former machinist, says that his work in on and around locomotive boilers, without adequate safety precautions, caused his current condition, which has not been specified.
Asbestos fibers, when inhaled, can cause lung cancer, cancer of the pharynx, cancer of the esophagus, stomach cancer, colon cancer, cancer of the rectum, asbestosis and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of lung cancer, can lie dormant for decades, but when it finally manifests the patient commonly dies with a year or two.
According to Miller's lawyers, the railroad was negligent in failing to provide instructions for the safe handling of asbestos-containing products. The railroad also failed to provide safe and effective breathing masks, or ventilation devices, and required employees to work with hazardous products without the benefit of any safety equipment.
Finally, the railroad failed to provide Miller (and others) with periodic testing for asbestos injury, failed to limit access to areas where asbestos-containing product was being used, failed to test these products for safety before employees used them, and failed to provide Miller with a separate locker to keep his regular clothing safe from contamination by his work clothing, which contained asbestos dust and fibers.
Miller's lawyers are seeking damages based on the fact that Miller claims he has contracted an asbestos-related disease that has caused him lost wages, severe physical and emotional pain, as well as extreme nervousness and mental anguish because he has been led to believe, by medical professionals, that his illness in permanent and beyond remediation.
The legal team is seeking damages for loss of earnings, diminished physical capacity, medical expenses, loss of affection, and the costs of counseling and support required by himself and his family for what all have been led to expect is a shortened life expectancy.
Although Miller clearly does not have mesothelioma, the extent of his exposure to asbestos makes that a possibility. Even though none of the safety and health-reporting agencies (the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, or OSHA, the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, and the American Cancer Society) has ever established minimum, safe levels of exposure, five years is a long enough period to have initiated the disease, since anything from a day to a lifetime can trigger mesothelioma.
Insulation blankets, tape, patching materials and gaskets once used in boilers are all high-residue sources of asbestos, and even today many of these products may contain asbestos, putting boiler workers in the high-risk category for developing asbestos-related diseases. Miller's five-year exposure as both a machinist and boiler worker makes him a prime candidate for mesothelioma.
Miller is also a prime example of the perfect storm of asbestos injury claims that are just now coming due as workers from the 1950s and 1960s reach an age when diseases like asbestosis and mesothelioma begin to make their appearance.
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