Asbestos product liability lawsuits have become significantly more common in recent years, as the delayed symptoms of diseases such as mesothelioma have become clear to those who worked around dangerous materials between the 1940s and 1990s.
Anyone who has suffered as a result of asbestos exposure has the right to file a product liability asbestos lawsuit.
In this guide, we’ll explain how asbestos product liability claims work and clearly define what your options are next. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our asbestos product liability attorneys, who will be keen to help.
What Is Product Liability in Asbestos Lawsuits?
Product liability is the term for when a company is responsible for a product that caused harm to a user. In asbestos product liability cases, the liability applies to a company’s products or materials containing asbestos that lead to diseases such as mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis. If the product was defective or shouldn’t have contained asbestos, then they can be held liable.
Over 4,000 asbestos-related lawsuits are filed in the U.S. annually, with most resolved through mesothelioma settlements. Many of these are based on product liability.
You Won’t Sue the Military or Government.
Many veterans and government employees feel conflicted about filing lawsuits, fearing they’ll be legally taking on those they served for.
But it’s important to know that lawsuits are not made against the military or the government. Instead, asbestos product liability lawsuits are made against manufacturers, distributors, or sellers who were responsible for the product.
How Asbestos Product Liability Works:
Proving Asbestos product liability requires evidence that one or more of three legal theories were present: Strict Liability, Negligence, Failure to warn, and Breach of Warranty.
An asbestos exposure attorney will work to uncover this evidence on your behalf. Here is what’s required:
Strict Liability – How Dangerous the Product Was
Strict liability applies when a product is unreasonably dangerous, leading to injury even if the company acted carefully.
Instead of focusing on whether the company knew or failed to warn the user, the issue is simply the level of danger the product posed when used.
Strict liability is the most common path taken in proving causation in mesothelioma cases, as courts widely recognize that asbestos exposure is inherently unsafe.
Proving Strict Liability
To prove strict liability, you must show evidence of:
- The defendant was a commercial supplier of the product.
- The product was defective and unreasonably dangerous, as it contained asbestos.
- The product was used without a substantial change in condition from when it left the defendant’s control.
- The product exposed you to asbestos and was a substantial factor in causing your asbestos-related disease.
Negligence – The Failure to Show Care
Negligence applies when a company fails to exercise reasonable care in the design, manufacturing, or marketing of a product.
In asbestos cases, negligence often involves the company overlooking the asbestos’s health risks, putting its users at risk of exposure.
Most often, companies are negligent for failing to provide protective equipment or simply overlooking the use of asbestos in the manufacturing process.
Proving Negligence
To prove negligence in an asbestos product liability claim, you must show evidence that:
- The company had a duty of care to protect its users and bystanders from asbestos risks.
- They broke that duty by failing to take reasonable precautions.
- The breach of duty caused your asbestos-related illness.
Failure to Warn – Suppressing Known Risks
Failure to Warn applies when a company knew or should have known about the dangers of asbestos but didn’t provide adequate or clear warnings to the user.
Like Strict Liability, Failure to warn is very common in product liability asbestos lawsuits, as many manufacturers knew the danger but did nothing to warn their end users. In fact, there is evidence that many asbestos companies suppressed findings on the health risks as early as the 1930s.
Failure to warn can apply against manufacturers who sold asbestos-containing products without warnings (such as insulation, gaskets, brakes, or construction materials), employers who didn’t warn their employees to wear protective gear, or property owners who didn’t warn contractors about the presence of asbestos on the site.
Proving Failure to Warn
To prove there was a failure to warn, you must show evidence that:
- The company knew or should have known that asbestos was present.
- The danger was not obvious to you and required a warning.
- The company failed to provide a clear warning (such as a label, manual, or training).
- The lack of warning was a substantial factor in your asbestos exposure that led to your illness.
Commonly, defendants counter the claim with the “sophisticated user defense,” arguing the employer or end user should have known the risks independently. But this defense has mixed success, especially when strict liability comes into play.
Breach of Warranty:
Finally, you may also be able to file a Breach of Warranty claim. This applies when a company markets a product as safe, even though it contains asbestos. This is false advertising that breaks an implied promise of safety and makes them liable.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Asbestos Product Liability?
In any product liability asbestos lawsuits, multiple parties could be legally responsible for your asbestos exposure. Your attorney will work to identify these and, if optimal, file multi-defendant asbestos lawsuits:
Product Manufacturers
Manufacturers are the most commonly found at-fault party, with many companies liable for producing products containing asbestos despite knowing the risks.
Most commonly, asbestos was used across the military and construction industries, in brakes, gaskets, insulation, electrical wiring, tiling, roofing, and cement. But there have also been cases of asbestos in everyday products such as talcum powder.
Distributors and Suppliers
Those involved in the path between the manufacturer and the end-user may also be liable, if they sold asbestos-containing products despite knowing the products were dangerous – especially if they failed to warn you.
These cases have been common in the construction and motor vehicle industries, where companies bought and used products from sellers whom they trusted would have stated the dangers.
Contractors and Installers
Any company that requires its employees to work with asbestos products may also be liable if they failed to warn their workers, didn’t provide the proper safety equipment, didn’t use proper containment, or made OSHA violations (such as air sampling results).
Property Owners
If a property owner knew asbestos exposure was a risk, such as through exposed insulation, and didn’t warn the people on site, then they may be liable.
These property owners should have taken the necessary steps to resolve the danger or warned visitors to wear protective equipment to prevent exposure.
While this is technically property liability, it may still overlap with the other areas in your lawsuit.
Common Asbestos Products Named in Lawsuits
If you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma and worked with any of these products, there is a chance that it was the cause of your asbestos exposure. Our attorneys can identify the specific party at fault and find evidence linking your illness to them.
- Insulation (pipe, boiler, spray-on)
- Floor and ceiling tiles
- Roofing materials and shingles
- Brake pads and clutch facings
- Gaskets, valves, and packing materials
- Cement and adhesives
- Fireproofing compounds
- Talcum powder products
- Electrical components (such as wiring, panels
What You Need to Prove in an Asbestos Product Liability Claim
To win your asbestos product liability claim, you must connect the alleged liability (such as strict liability, negligence, or failure to warn) to your asbestos-related disease.
Here is how your asbestos exposure attorney will connect the chain:
Diagnosis
You will first need a diagnosis of your mesothelioma, lung cancer, or related disease. These medical notes are critical as they prove irrefutable evidence that, at some point, you were exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos.
Note that mesothelioma has a long latency period of around 50 years, which means the exposure likely happened decades ago. This is normal and is recognized by the courts thanks to adapted laws.
Exposure
You must show evidence of when and where you were exposed. Using our existing database and further research, we can track down employment records, product identification, or witness testimony that shows your presence when the asbestos-related products were used.
You will also need to show that the product was dangerous or that a company was negligent. Again, our investigations can uncover OSHA records, suppressed warnings, and other documentation that is evidence of the dangerous products.
Causation:
Next, we will need to show that the product caused your illness. This is caused by ‘causation’ and is often one of the hardest parts of any asbestos product liability lawsuit.
To achieve this, it’s common to use medical records alongside statements from physicians and experts linking the illness to the exposure. Repeated or long-term exposure is especially strong proof of causation.
Damages:
Damage is the term given to the value of what you’ve suffered, both non-economically and economically. They can be far-reaching but primarily cover related medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and the loss of enjoyment in your life.
What Compensation Can You Expect?
In asbestos product liability cases, compensation can be significant, as damages can add up quickly. But the exact amount will vary depending on diagnosis, evidence, and legal strategy.
On average, an out-of-court settlement is around $1 million to $1.4 million, while a trial verdict is around $5 million to $11.4 million. Additional compensation can also be acquired from trust funds and multi-defendant cases.
File a Product Liability Lawsuit with Shrader & Associates
Filing an asbestos product liability claim is possible even without upfront costs, with a no-win, no-fee law firm like Shrader & Associates. This gives all asbestos and mesothelioma victims and their families the right to compensation.
To begin the process, we invite you to contact us for a free consultation at 866-262-8170 or via our online form.
Specializing in asbestos-related lawsuits, we have helped victims with exposure stretching back as far as the 1940s to gain meaningful compensation.
FAQs: Asbestos Product Liability Lawsuits
What happens after filing an asbestos lawsuit?
After filing an asbestos lawsuit, your attorney will get to work uncovering documents such as employment records, product documentation, and safety records that can link your time around a product, your diagnosis, and the product’s use to the company.
What happens if the company at fault goes bankrupt?
This is very common, given that these cases involve companies from many decades ago. Thankfully, asbestos trust fund laws were established in the 1980s to ensure funds were secured for victims, even if the companies went bankrupt.
Are there time limits for filing an asbestos product liability lawsuit?
Yes. Each state has a ‘Statute of Limitations’ that sets a deadline for filing a lawsuit. However, this often begins from the date of the diagnosis. But it can be as short as 1 year in some states, so we urge you to act quickly to avoid missing the chance to file a lawsuit.