The Williams, Placid Oil, Take-Home, Asbestos & Mesothelioma case documents what many secondary exposure – (secondary asbestos dust exposure) – victims may face today – past potential secondary exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma. The court affirmed the lower courts ruling.
To find out more on the case, see Case No. 12-11120 – May 27, 2014.
A brief summary of the facts include:
- Placid, a Texas company, owned and operated a large natural gas production and processing facility near Black Lake, Louisiana.
- The company filed for bankruptcy in 1986. The bankruptcy court set January 31, 1987, as the bar date by which potential creditors were required to file claims.
- On three occasions in January 1987, Placid published a Notice of Bar Date in the Wall Street Journal, a newspaper of national circulation available in Louisiana.
- The notice informed creditors of the existence of the bankruptcy case, their opportunity to file proofs of claim, relevant deadlines, consequences of not filing a proof of claim, and how proofs of claim should be filed.
- On September 30, 1988, Placid confirmed its Fourth Amended Plan of Reorganization (“Plan”). The court order provided that all claims against Placid that arose on or before this confirmation date were forever discharged except for Placid’s obligations under the Plan, which did not address potential future asbestos liability.
- Mr. Williams worked at the Black Lake facility from 1966 to 1995.
- For the purposes of this proceeding, the parties agreed that Mr. Williams was occupationally exposed to insulation containing asbestos, that Mrs. Williams was exposed to asbestos dust and fibers when laundering Mr. Williams’s clothing, and that the insulation was in Placid’s care, custody, and control prior to the sale of the facility in 1988. In 2003, Mrs. Williams’s health suddenly deteriorated.
- She was diagnosed with the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma and passed away on August 9, 2003.
For more on asbestos and mesothelioma, please visit the links below:
- An Overview
- Asbestos Connection
- Exposure to Asbestos
- Signs and Symptoms
- Diagnosis/Staging and Treatment
- Go To Asbestos
- Resources
- Asbestos & Mesothelioma News
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