Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Fair Act of 2003 isn’t fair at all to sick workers

Friday, Oct. 3, 2003 | 4:13 a.m.

Americans long ago learned that titles given statutes or organizations are often misleading. Seldom have I seen one more misleading than the "Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003," better known as the "Fair Act of 2003." This is the short title for S.1125, written by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and it's anything but fair to thousands of working people sick and dying from asbestos poisoning.

Several former employees of the Timet plant in Henderson are with us no longer because their lives were cut short by the asbestos that entered their lungs at work. Others, like Henderson's Howard Blum, who worked there for 30 years, are sick and seeking compensation for their medical problems. Blum filed a claim seeking justice six years ago after being diagnosed.

Now along comes S.1125, with all of the power of large corporations and the Bush administration behind it. The bill is more than 50 pages in length and on page 10 the following paragraph caught my eye: "EFFECT ON PENDING CLAIMS -- If an asbestos claimant has any timely filed claim for an asbestos-related injury that is pending in a Federal or State court or with a trust established under Title 11, United States Code, on the date of enactment of this Act, such claimant shall file an asbestos claim under this section within 2 years after such date of enactment or be barred from receiving any award under this title."

This kills all the work, pain and suffering Blum experienced since 1997. Then he can start all over again and the corporate lawyers and the federal government will continue to block any meaningful action hoping he will die before it costs them any money. This probably sounds familiar to Blum because his case was moving through the Texas courts several years ago. Then the power of corporate America had the Texas Legislature pass a law that kept any non-Texas resident from filing an asbestos suit after Dec. 31, 1996. That ended Blum's lawsuit in Texas.

So what else will S.1125 do? According to plaintiff's lawyers, it will result in the following:

The only thing that can save our sick workers, instead of protecting huge corporate profits, is for our senators, Harry Reid and John Ensign, to stand up and fight S.1125. No American should have his life shortened and live in agony because he worked for 30 years providing for his family and community. Certainly we won't be fooled by a statute that not only isn't fair, but is mean, degrading and greedy. It deserves a quick legislative death and burial.