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Gold Mines and Bogus Claims
Before lawyers smelled big money, there were legitimate suits filed on behalf of workers made seriously ill by breathing in fibers or dust. Asbestos litigation hit the courts first, and the response from the asbestos industry was brazen and unconscionable. Before that, starting in the 1930s, it tried to control research and suppress alarming health findings.Johns Manville, a large manufacturer of insulation, had a policy until the 1960s of keeping company medical diagnoses of asbestosis secret from sick employees. "There is a very definite possibility that [the worker] would become mentally and physically ill, simply through the knowledge that he has asbestosis," said medical director Kenneth W. Smith.
With ammunition like that, sick workers sued, and shell-shocked companies paid. Many opted for bankruptcy and special trusts to fund settlements.
In no time, some trial lawyers saw a gold mine and began bringing hundreds of thousands of cases, many with very weak underpinnings. Gun-shy defense attorneys kept settling claims with little noise -- and earning fees for themselves. Bogus claims soon overwhelmed the courts.
As lawmakers and courts tried to rein those claims in, silicosis litigation exploded. This new legal front centered on a disease that could involve everything from shortness of breath to cancer, TB and autoimmune diseases. As with asbestos, there was a history of cover-ups dating from the Great Depression era. Once again, nervous companies settled and the potential for bigger payouts grew. And a pack of lawyers, doctors and medical screeners swooped in.
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