Mesothelioma Litigation

According to the French Tribune, Japanese automaker Honda said recently that it plans to appeal a ruling handed down that saw a former company mechanic collect compensation of 54 million yen, or approximately $640,000.

Court documents indicate that 61-year-old former mechanic Hidenari Hane developed malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, after he claims he was exposed to asbestos on a regular basis while working at a Honda factory in Nagoya, Japan.

Hane was reportedly diagnosed with the asbestos-related disease in 2007, according to the news provider. Other diseases related to asbestos exposure include lung cancer and asbestosis.

After hearing Hane's side of the story, Judge Koichiro Matsumoto ruled that Honda, the second-largest automaker in the world, did not properly protect its employees from the dangerous material. Additionally, the judge ruled that the employer did not know that new legislation was implemented in Japan during the 1960s in order to better protect workers from asbestos exposure.

Now, the company plans to appeal the judge's ruling that the automaker should have done something to prevent its workers from being subjected to such exposure, according to the news provider.