Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site islenet.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!lll-crg!dual!islenet!bob From: bob@islenet.UUCP (Bob Cunningham) Newsgroups: net.politics.theory Subject: Re: Class Action Suits against Polluters Message-ID: <1305@islenet.UUCP> Date: Sun, 23-Jun-85 09:29:26 EDT Article-I.D.: islenet.1305 Posted: Sun Jun 23 09:29:26 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 29-Jun-85 03:03:23 EDT References: <408@mmintl.UUCP> <28200013@inmet.UUCP> <651@whuxl.UUCP> <232@kontron.UUCP> <655@whuxl.UUCP> Organization: Hawaii Institute of Geophysics Lines: 23 > > Many states have prohibited class action lawsuits in air and water > > pollution cases "to keep from clogging up the courts". On the other hand, individual liability lawsuits have been known to clog the courts. There are now more than 700 individual lawsuits pending in federal and state court here concerning Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard workers exposed to lung-damaging asbestos over the last 40 years or so. Roughly 200 of the lawsuits have been filed just recently -- since an $8.3 million judgement was rendered on behalf of Lawrence Kaowili. Years ago, when the suit was originally filed, he was alive. He's since died of lung cancer ... and obviously the jury thought that damage due to asbestos was definitely a contributing factor. Still, the lawsuits represent oly a small minority of the estimated 4 million people who have worked at Pearl Harbor during the last 40 years who may have been exposed to asbestos. More lawsuits will presumably continue to be files. -- Bob Cunningham {dual|vortex|ihnp4}!islenet!bob Honolulu, Hawaii