Asbestos Claim Against GM Revived

December 26, 2006 - A retired electrician from Ohio won a nod from an appeals court in an asbestos suit against General Motors. 

According to the Toledo Blade, a panel in Ohio's eighth district ruled that a Cleveland judge erred in dismissing Lee C. Rettig's lawsuit against GM, for which he performed repairs at plants including a Defiance foundry off and on from 1953 to 1990. Mr. Rettig was a member of Toledo Local 8 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Rettig’s lawyer, Thomas Bevan, told the newspaper that the ruling “sets a precedent that could ease the way for other trades workers who contracted asbestos diseases while on the job.”

Rettig claims that he developed mesothelioma – an aggressive form of lung cancer – due to prolonged exposure to asbestos-containing steampipe insulation and wiring while working for General Motors.  The appeals court sided with Mr. Rettig's lawyers, who argued that GM was aware of the dangers of asbestos and had a duty to warn Mr. Rettig.  The judge who heard the case the first time around found GM not guilty of wrong doing, because, he noted, an electrician’s job is inherently dangerous anyway.

Lawyers countered with the argument that exposure to cancer-causing asbestos "is not inherent in the craft of an electrician."

“We've had mixed results in these types of cases," said Bevan. "This is the first clear decision out of the court of appeals."