Asbestos Litigation
Honda ordered to pay in Japanese asbestos lawsuit
Honda Motor Co. was recently ordered to pay 54 million yen (about $640,000) to a worker who claimed he developed mesothelioma while working at the company's plant in Nagoya, Japan.Hidenari Hane was a mechanic in the plant in the 1960s where he said in his asbestos lawsuit that he inhaled the deadly fiber while replacing brake parts, according to the Mainichi Daily News.
Tokyo District Court Judge Koichiro Matsumoto ruled that Honda was responsible for Hane's exposure.
"The risks of being exposed to asbestos had been known by the time the pneumoconiosis law was enacted in 1960 at the latest, and a major company like Honda should have been fully aware of the risks and the damages at the factory were foreseeable," he said, reports the news source.
Pneumoconiosis is an occupational lung disease that affects the respiratory system.
Hane was reportedly diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2007.
In addition to malignant mesothelioma, asbestos exposure can cause asbestosis and lung cancer.
According to the news provider, Honda plans to appeal the decision.
12/3/10
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