LV union fighting Congress on bill over asbestos claims

David Strow

Monday, April 10, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

A Las Vegas union is lashing out against a congressional bill it says will deprive its members of fair compensation for asbestos-related illnesses and deaths.

Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local 135, a small union local based in Las Vegas, held a press conference Saturday to protest H.R. 1283, introduced by Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., in the House in March. Dubbed the "Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act," the bill would severely restrict the right of claimants to sue asbestos companies for exposure-related claims.

It's an issue the local says strikes close to home. Until the late 1970s, its members worked with asbestos without respirators or protective suits. Many of its long-term members now suffer with health problems they say are linked to their asbestos exposure, and three members of the 90-member local have died in the past six months from such illnesses.

"The basic right of any one of us injured by exposure to asbestos is to bring our cases to court," said Rick Devoe, political coordinator for Local 135. "(Asbestos manufacturers) are trying to get off the hook. It's that simple.

"Every day I'm finding someone else (within the local) that's affected."

Devoe said his union is lobbying because the vote margin in the House is so slim -- no more than a few votes at best. Their efforts are being backed by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

"It will only take a couple of votes to beat it," Devoe said.

The text of the bill, however, says reform is necessary to stop "the overwhelming tide of asbestos cases" and "the irrationality of a litigation system that awards massive amounts to the unimpaired while threatening the ability of seriously ill people to obtain compensation in the future." The bill has 70 co-sponsors in the House.

The bill claims "asbestos personal injury litigation is unfair and inefficient, and imposes a crushing burden on litigants and taxpayers alike." More than 150,000 asbestos claims are currently pending, the bill said, and thousands of new cases are being filed each year. The sponsors argue this isn't an efficient way of handling claims, and that attorney's fees and litigation costs often eat up more than 50 percent of the compensation paid to claimants.

The bill would establish the "Asbestos Resolution Corp.," a non-profit organization that will establish the medical standards necessary for an asbestos claim to be filed. If a claimant meets these standards, the corporation would issue a certificate of eligibility.

The claimant would then be required to mediate the case with the asbestos manufacturer. A lawsuit would be permitted only if mediation failed, and if the claimant received a certificate of medical eligibility from the Asbestos Resolution Corp.

As well-meaning as it sounds, Devoe believes the bill would be catastrophic, and not just to asbestos-related claims.

"This is an attempt to establish an ultrastrict burden of medical proof that is not supported by the medical community," Devoe said. "If this precedent is set by this bill, shifting responsibility from the manufacturer, that concerns not just us, but everybody."

An estimated 300,000 Americans have died to date as a result of asbestos exposure, Devoe said, with an additional 12,000 per year dying from exposure.

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