Mesothelioma is a devastating form of cancer. Although there is no cure for this cancer that attacks the organ linings, there are treatments available to slow its spread and reduce the symptoms it causes. Those treatments can cause someone hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical care.
Many people with mesothelioma developed the cancer because of the work they did years ago. Industries ranging from automotive repair to shipbuilding could have led to dangerous levels of environmental asbestos exposure.
Companies that expose their workers to asbestos without adequate safeguards in place are often held accountable for the financial losses a household suffers after a mesothelioma diagnosis. Unfortunately, claiming compensation can be a difficult process.
Why is it hard to get compensation for mesothelioma?
It often takes decades for mesothelioma to develop after unsafe exposure to asbestos. That can make it more difficult for a worker to conclusively prove that one specific company bears the responsibility for their illness.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the companies themselves may take active steps to avoid paying for more compensation claims related to asbestos exposure at work. Some companies will hire attorneys to fight claimants.
Since that approach doesn’t limit their liability enough, many businesses who knowingly endangered their workers will also file bankruptcy related to the asbestos-related claims that workers can bring against their business.
Companies flooded with asbestos claims often choose to file bankruptcy
In most kinds of bankruptcy proceedings, a company has to make good on its debts while liquidating assets or restructuring its obligations and debts to repay those with the highest priority. In an asbestos-related bankruptcy, a business can continue doing operations as usual.
The process actually serves to protect the company rather than the people with legitimate claims against it. The courts can effectively protect the business’s current financial holdings and physical assets from claims by workers with mesothelioma.
Instead of allowing claims against the business, the bankruptcy courts facilitating the process will allow the company to set aside a specific amount of resources, called an asbestos bankruptcy fund, that workers with mesothelioma and similar asbestos-related diseases can make claims against when they need support.
Workers who need to take action against a former employer because of mesothelioma and those who must make a claim against bankruptcy trusts often need patience and support when striving to connect with compensation.