Asbestos Litigation

A group of Oak Ridge, Tennessee cleanup workers recently filed an asbestos lawsuit seeking compensation for allegedly being exposed to the carcinogenic material on the job during the early 2000s.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports the asbestos lawsuit, filed May 5 in Roane County Circuit Court, seeks asbestos compensation from government contractors involved in the cleanup of the Department of Energy's K-25 plant from 2000 to 2001.

In the lawsuit, the six plaintiffs claim they were responsible for the demolition of "synchronous condensers" at the site, and were told that the condensers did not contain asbestos. Requests for respirators or other protective gear were allegedly declined by the contractors, and the workers claimed they were ultimately exposed to asbestos while cutting the equipment with chop saws.

"The chop saws created thick clouds of fine dust and debris, which completely coated Plaintiffs' bodies and clothing every day, and which they breathed continuously," the asbestos lawsuit claims.

The inhalation of asbestos fibers can have deadly consequences, including the development of lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that attacks the tissues surrounding a majority of the body's internal organs.