This legislation only makes that problem worse. Workers’ compensation benefits for occupational diseases are paid by the victim’s final employer. Under this legislation, if an asbestos company was not the victim’s last employer, the asbestos company would not be required to pay compensation. Instead, the last employer would be required to pay all benefits and medical bills, shifting the costs onto innocent local businesses.

Protect Missouri Workers is a nonprofit organization working to fight legislation that would severely limit the ability of workers to receive proper compensation for their injuries. We cannot provide legal advice to individual victims of unsafe work environments. Please refer to the OSHA website for assistance regarding any specific situations or seek proper legal counsel immediately.

Serious occupational diseases can sometimes have a long latency period. This means that the illnesses may not show up for a long time after the worker was exposed to the toxin.

Thousands of Missouri workers have been exposed to workplace toxins. Transportation workers, mechanics, laborers and factory workers, refinery workers and construction workers are just a few of the occupations who have come in to contact with dangerous toxins in the workplace.

An occupational disease is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. It is an aspect of occupational safety and health.

• There are many important reasons to handle these cases in the court system:
• It holds companies accountable for misdeeds.
• It ensures victims receive fair compensation for their injuries or illness.
• It protects taxpayers and insurance ratepayers from bearing costs of victims.
• It protects local businesses from paying for workers sickened at an earlier job.
• The Courts and juries are the last resort for citizens when politics are dominated by special interests.

There is currently legislation under consideration in the Missouri state legislature to change Missouri law so that those suffering and dying from such occupational diseases would be covered only by the workers’ compensation system. Missouri families would not be able to pursue claims against a past employer in court.

Legislation has been filed that may significantly alter the workers’ compensation laws in Missouri. Currently, a victim of a serious occupational disease can sue his employer outside of the workers’ compensation system. This system allows for real and meaningful compensation. The proposed legislation (SB 1) would, instead, place these lawsuits cases inside the workers’ compensation system, drastically limiting the victim’s ability to obtain fair proper compensation.

Supporters claim this legislation is needed to protect jobs, but workers are no longer required to work with lead, asbestos, benzene and other workplace toxins. These activities ceased decades ago when the mines were closed and the asbestos plants shut down. Letting companies that poisoned previous generations of workers off the hook will not save Missouri jobs today

As early as the 1920s and 1930s, American industry discovered that radiation, asbestos, silica, benzene, lead, arsenic and other workplace toxins could cause cancer decades after workers retired. Instead of eliminating toxins and warning workers, the chemical, mining and asbestos industry chose to cover up the dangers, placing profits over people. This legislation would reward them for endangering and lying to their own employees.

Missouri workers’ compensation law currently allows people suffering from occupational diseases caused by workplace toxins such as asbestos, arsenic, or radiation to pursue lawsuits against the companies that knowingly exposed them to those toxins. The law allows victims and their families to seek relief from companies who knowingly poisoned them – and who could have prevented it – but failed to take action.

If they are, it’s only because companies are trying to avoid responsibility. As early as the 1920s and 1930s, American industry discovered that radiation, asbestos, silica, benzene, lead, arsenic and other workplace toxins could cause cancer decades after workers retired. Instead of eliminating toxins and warning workers, the chemical, mining and asbestos industry chose to cover up the dangers, placing profits over people. This legislation would reward them for endangering and lying to their own employees.

In fact, CertainTeed is one of the companies pushing its political allies to pass this legislation. CertainTeed abandoned its St. Louis-area asbestos plant in 1979, leaving behind an asbestos dump that created an epidemic of cancer claims in the surrounding neighborhood.  CertainTeed’s attempts to cover up the problem have been documented. The Missouri Legislature should not put the narrow interests of campaign contributors ahead of the welfare of the citizens who elected them.

Missouri citizens are fighting this legislation for two reasons: 1) so that Missouri workers are treated fairly, and 2) because the real goal of this legislation is to shift the cost of care from the companies that poisoned workers to Missouri taxpayers. This legislation will deny compensation to thousands of victims of leukemia, lung cancer, metal poisoning, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and other deadly diseases caused by workplace toxins. But someone will still have to pay for their medical care, and if responsibility is shifted to the workers’ compensation system, the burden will fall on us.

Workers’ compensation claims aren’t always handled quickly, especially for diseases that develop over time. Employers can delay compensation claims by disputing the cause of a disease, often even delaying a claim until the employee has died.

Workers’ compensation is a good program for dealing with minor injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome or back pain, but it is not adequate for deadly diseases like lung cancer or leukemia because the coverage limits are too low. Workers’ compensation benefits are limited to only $799 per week, which doesn’t come close to covering medical costs for victims of cancer and other terminal diseases.

The biggest challenge in diagnosing asbestos-related illnesses is their long “latency” period. This means that the illnesses may not show up for a long time after asbestos exposure-sometimes as long as 10 to 40 years.

There are many important reasons to handle these cases in the court system:

• It holds companies accountable for misdeeds.
• It ensures victims receive adequate compensation for their injuries or illness.
• It protects taxpayers and insurance ratepayers from bearing costs of victims.
• It protects local businesses from paying for workers sickened at an earlier job.
• The Courts are the last resort for citizens with politics dominated by special interests.

No. While worker’s compensation was originally designed to get injured workers medical care and treatment quickly, it is not working as planned.

There is currently legislation under consideration in the Missouri state legislature to change Missouri law so that those suffering and dying from such occupational diseases would be covered only by the state’s workers’ compensation system exclusively and could not pursue their claims in court.

Workers’ compensation benefits are limited to only $799 per week, which doesn’t come close to covering medical costs for victims of cancer and other terminal diseases. This legislation would make it impossible for many of those poisoned by workplace toxins such as asbestos to recover the costs of their medical expenses.

Many of these victims die within a year of diagnosis, so they would only receive worker’s compensation benefits for a short period of time. Additionally, the families of victims are often left with expensive funeral expenses that are not covered by worker’s compensation benefits.