A case currently being challenged in the Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis could potentially throw open the door to more asbestos claims in the province.
Currently, Maryland law allows for a 20-year deadline for workers or their families to make claims of illness or death from asbestos exposure.
However, a case heard Friday in the Court of Appeals, involving a steamfitter who died from medical complications from exposure to asbestos more than 40 years ago, could potentially alter the system.
Although the steamfitter, James F. Piper, was initially exposed to asbestos at his work in a Maryland power plant in the 1970s, he only recently died from asbestos-induced mesothelioma – a form of lung cancer.
If Piper’s estate wins the case, it could set a precedent in the state and allow more individuals – who have developed asbestos-related health issues after the 20-year limitation – to file lawsuits, advocates have said. A coalition of unions and trade associations estimated that the number of such claims could be in the tens of thousands.
Piper’s case has already failed in Baltimore City Circuit Court and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, the
Baltimore Sun reported.
Daniel Brown, an attorney for Piper’s estate from Brown Gould Kiely, said that if those rulings are upheld by the Court of Appeals, “mesothelioma victims who worked in the construction industry will be denied access to the courts”.
Donald Gifford, the Jacob A. France professor of torts of the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, told the
Baltimore Sun that there have been more than 1 million asbestos cases in Maryland courts, though that number has dwindled as the use of asbestos has become less prevalent.
There’s plenty at stake for both plaintiffs and defendants, Gifford pointed out. “It certainly is going to affect more than one case, and more than a few,” he added.
An attorney with the Law Offices of Peter Angelos testified before state legislators recently, saying that there are 22,000 pending active cases and another 7,000 inactive cases from workers who have yet to fall ill, but have filed paperwork to reserve their right to sue once they do develop complications.
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