British mesothelioma victim settles out of court

The Northern Echo reported last week that 86 year old mesothelioma patient Cyril Faulkner received an out-of-court settlement from his former employers, Hawkins and Holmes Limited.

Mr. Faulkner, who worked as a plumber for Hawkins and Holmes from 1961 to 1973, was diagnosed with the fatal cancer in 2008, and with this settlement, will now be able to cover the costs of his mesothelioma treatments.

As quoted in the Echo, Mr. Faulkner's reaction to the outcome was one of mixed emotion:

“I was devastated when I found out that I had developed mesothelioma. For years, I loyally worked for this company and, all along, they would have known and understood that I was working with such a dangerous material, but yet did nothing to stop me from inhaling the asbestos dust.

“I’m relieved that Hawkins and Holmes has now been brought to justice for the blatant disregard which it has shown me and my colleagues who also would have been exposed to asbestos.”

As in the States, the people hit hardest by mesothelioma are those who were exposed to asbestos in the workplace. This group includes plumbers, like Mr. Faulkner, but considering the prevalence of asbestos use in the construction and insulation of buildings, cars, and boats, very few tradesmen in the 20th century would have been totally safe from asbestos' toxic fibers and dangerous dust.

"Blatant disregard" was Mr. Faulker's phrase for his employers' attitude towards him and his co-workers. Not malice, not an intent to destroy lives; just a callousness that allows decision-makers to gamble with others' lives. For all the strides made in technology and business, lawsuits such as Mr. Faulkner's have shown how slow human nature has been to catch up with those advances.

Mesothelioma lawsuits like Mr. Faulkner's show both the inhumane mentality that allows one man or group of men to disregard the lives of another, and the power of one man, with a dedicated team of lawyers, to battle that callousness, and tip the scales of justice back toward the balance we strive to keep.