Widow of School Teacher Files Asbestos Suit

May 19 , 2006 - According to an article in the New Britain (Conn.) Herald, the widow of a long-time school teacher is filing a workers comp suit against the town of Plainville for her husband’s death due to consistent exposure to asbestos in the workplace. 

Walter W. Caswell, Jr. died of mesothelioma in January 2005 at the age of 55.  The only known cause of mesothelioma – a brutal cancer that affects the lining of the lungs and the chest cavity – is exposure to asbestos.  Mesothelioma carries a nearly 100% fatality rate.

Caswell was a 34-year employee of Plainville High School, where he taught English.  Asbestos was used in construction materials throughout the high school, which was built in the 1960s, more than a decade before asbestos warnings were issued by the federal government.  Asbestos was found in floor and ceiling tiles as well as insulation and the school district was well aware of the situation, contends the suit.  Removal of such materials have since been addressed and most of the asbestos is now gone. 

But it was a case of too little, too late for Caswell, who was diagnosed with a tumor in his left lung which tested positive for several antigens present in cases of mesothelioma.