$32 Million Asbestos Settlement for Navy Vet
Navy Firemen Often Worked in Close Quarters Around Asbestos Products
Ronald Dummitt served his country proudly for nearly 30 years as a Navy fireman and boiler tender. However, that service forced him into close and prolonged contact with asbestos – a known carcinogen. Dummitt developed mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, decades after his discharge.
According to a report by WSAZ-TV, Dummitt, who now lives in Kentucky, was awarded $32 million for his illness and pain and suffering by a New York jury in August of last year. The award was broken down into $16 million components: one for past pain and suffering and one for future pain and suffering.
Mr. Dummitt’s attorney called the man a “true American hero” but acknowledge that his valor and bravery were no match for mesothelioma. “Unfortunately, no man can give Ronald Dummitt’s health back to him. This verdict represents all that a just and civil society can do to redress the harm caused by culpable companies who fail to protect innocent workers whether on the job or in the line of duty.”
Mesothelioma, though treatable, is incurable and always fatal.
Military veterans remain one of the populations at highest risk for developing mesothelioma and Navy veterans are at highest risk within that subset. That’s because that the shipbuilding industry used copious amounts of asbestos and asbestos products in everything from insulation, to gaskets, and even paints. In addition, those working within the confines of a ship – especially in the boiler and engine rooms – had to work in close contact with harmful levels of this carcinogen. They were inhaling and ingesting asbestos fibers on a regular basis, often for prolonged periods of time.
Though the dangers of asbestos have been known since the first reports of asbestos related disease arose in the 1920s, companies continued to manufacture products using this toxic material until well into the 1980s. It took federal regulations such as the Clean Air Act to outlaw the manufacture and use of asbestos products here in the United States. Some countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, still use asbestos materials to this day.
The jury agreed that Dummitt most likely came into contact with asbestos used in Crane Co. valves which contained asbestos within the pads, gaskets, and packing, and dear eating feed tanks manufactured by Elliott Turbomachinery Co., Inc..
Though the monetary awards will go a long way toward paying for Mr. Dummitt’s mesothelioma treatments, no award can truly make up for the ultimate sacrifice that this brave veteran has yet to make for his country.
