Unite welcomes pleural plaques judgement
8th January 2010
Unite has welcomed today’s Court of Session judgement rejecting
the UK insurance lobby’s shameful attempts to invalidate Scottish
parliamentary legislation that gives negligently exposed victims of
pleural plaques and other asbestos related conditions the right to
claim damages.
Pleural plaques are recognised by medical experts as a sign of
irreversible damage to the lining of the lung caused by a history
of exposure to asbestos which carries an increased risk of
malignant diseases such as the deadly cancer mesothelioma.
The Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act which came
into force last year overturned a 2007 House of Lords ruling which
said damages could not be claimed for the illness.
But Lord Emslie did not accept that the insurance lobby’s
complaints came anywhere near the standard of irrationality needed
to invalidate an Act of the Scottish parliament and added that
“there was every reason for the parliament to legislate” on this
matter.
Unite Scottish secretary. John Quigley, said: “We are delighted
with Lord Emslie’s decision to throw-out the UK insurance lobby’s
shameful attempts to deny people exposed to asbestos in the
workplace the right to seek justice.
"The devastating legacy of asbestos is widespread in the
communities like Clydebank and Grangemouth, where asbestos was
routinely used in the shipbuilding and petro-chemical industries.
It is only right that negligent employers who exposed workers to
asbestos should be made liable for the horrible legacy they have
left.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for people, not profit, and we will
use this as a launching pad in the campaign for legal parity across
the rest of the UK.”
ENDS
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