Asbestos Litigation

A former boxer from Belfast who also worked on docks during the 1950s recently won asbestos compensation from his former employers after a High Court decision, reports UTV News.

According to the news source, Arthur Rafferty was allegedly responsible for removing bags of the carcinogenic material from ships and bringing them onshore.

"No one ever told us about the dangers of this, we never got as much as a paper mask," he told the news source. "It was a dangerous job, we reported that to our union a couple of times about the dangers of it and the dust, but our union did absolutely nothing about it."

In 2002, Rafferty was reportedly diagnosed with asbestosis, a lung disease that is one of a number of illnesses that can be caused by asbestos. Lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, a rare cancer, have also been linked to the carcinogenic substance.

After being diagnosed with asbestosis, Rafferty reportedly decided to file an asbestos lawsuit against his former employers, leading to an undisclosed reward being granted this week, according to the news source. The former boxer said the asbestosis diagnosis "knocked me out," because he was told there was nothing he could do about it.