Brayton Purcell, LLP - 222 Rush Landing Road, PO Box 6169, Novato, CA 94945

Manager Pleads Guilty to Exposing Employees to Asbestos

April 30, 2015 By

Daniel E. Nelson, a manager of Hoberg’s Resort and Spa has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exposing his employees to asbestos.

The Lake County District Attorney’s office alleged that Nelson repeatedly violated the California and OSHA asbestos workplace safety regulations when carrying out demolition of structures, and the DA’s office maintained that by ignoring the regulations there was a real hazard to the employees as they were potentially exposed to asbestos.

Nelson was the acting manager of Lake County Resorts, LLC, who at the time owned Hoberg’s Resort and Spa which was being renovated. In September of 2011, an asbestos inspection was carried out which found asbestos present but the Lake County Air Quality Management District (LCAQMD) never received a completed asbestos notification form.

Following the renovation by employees hired by Nelson, LCAQM staff issued a violation notice having seen large piles of debris on the property which had not been checked for asbestos.

Having pleaded guilty Nelson will have three years’ probation including 60 days in jail, 340 hours of community service, a $5,000 fine and he must also pay $20,000 to the Lakeside Health Clinic of Lake County which will be used for health screenings for potential victims in the case.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos lawsuits

New Ruling in Mesothelioma Case

March 29, 2015 By

There has been a new ruling in a Mesothelioma case in California.

Back in 2011, Johnny Kesner was diagnosed with mesothelioma and he then sued 19 companies given the fact that it was an asbestos related illness. Most of those he sued were his former employers all of whom he maintained had asbestos on their premises where he worked, but in addition, he sued Pneumo Abex Co. who had employed his uncle. He claimed that his uncle often had asbestos dust on his clothing when he returned home at night and given the fact that Kesner would often visit his uncle’s home as a child, he was exposed to the dust.

However, the court granted a request from Pneumo Abex to dismiss the case following a case in the Court of Appeal in California which said there was no liability if asbestos had been brought home on clothes. Kesner appealed and won and as such this was the first case in California which not only made employers liable for secondary exposure to asbestos but also was the only Court of Appeal across the United States to make that duty also apply to guests in the home of an employee.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos Mesothelioma

Former Executives Have to Pay Compensation

February 28, 2015 By

Three men who are former executives of Firm Build, a non-profit organization that is no longer operational, have been ordered to pay $1.8 million in compensation to 65 students who were exposed to airborne asbestos after their company directed workers to illegally remove debris containing asbestos from a former air force base in Atwater, Northern California.

Joseph Cuellar of Fresno, aged 74, Patrick Bowman of Los Banos, 48, and 52 year old Rudolph Buendia of Planada have been sentenced to between 24 and 27 months in prison in the case having pled guilty to one count of violating the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Law, and no-contest to state felony charges of treating, handling or disposing of asbestos in a manner that caused an unreasonable risk of serious injury to students.

Firm Build was construction training company that was performing demolition and renovation work to convert the former Air Force base motor pool into an automotive mechanic training center in 2005.

According to Federal prosecutors, Bowman, Cuellar and Buendia cut corners by knowingly using students from Workplace Learning Academy to remove and dispose of insulation containing asbestos on pipes and other components without proper protective equipment or taking protective measures, under the guise of involving them in work experience and job training programs.

The $1.8 million restitution will go exclusively toward the cost of monitoring the lifetime health of the 65 people who were exposed to the asbestos.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos lawsuits

Asbestos Found in University

January 30, 2015 By

Asbestos has been found in Strong Hall, in the ceiling of the lobby of the University residence hall where members of Chi Omega and Pi Beta Phi live.

The maintenance team arrived to fix a leaking pipe and removed the asbestos from the ceiling in the lobby. They set up plastic tarps and red “danger” tape in the lobby as they worked to remove the asbestos.

Administrators say that the residence hall is safe for the students who live in the building.

Asbestos can be found in insulation and ceiling panels, and Ana Ducoing, who teaches about asbestos at the Ecologic Training Institute in California says that it can take from 10 to 40 years after exposure for people to develop the symptoms of mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer. She went on to say it would be rare for a student to develop it due to the work in the lobby.

This is not the first time asbestos has been found in the University. In August 2011, health and safety officials found asbestos in Rice Hall, where many administrators work, and in 2012, staff members worked to remove asbestos from the basement of Gelman Library.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: California abestos

Asbestos Victim’s Family Win $3.6 Million

January 21, 2015 By

The family of a crew member who worked for Carnival Cruise Lines has been awarded $3.6 million by a Miami Court.

The Plaintiff was Italian and he worked as an electrician aboard four different Carnival Cruise Line ships from 1985 through 2000. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001 which was due to him having been exposed to asbestos throughout his career.

Asbestos poses little threat while intact, but if disturbed, its fibers are released into the air and if inhaled they can lead to serious and usually fatal diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestosis and lung cancer, all of which can take years to develop.

Most asbestos victims come into contact with asbestos at work especially those in the shipping industry where asbestos is commonly used to insulate boilers, engines and pipes.

In this particular case, the Plaintiff in the case worked in close proximity to asbestos in the engine room and machines spaces and an autopsy revealed his cancer had been caused by exposure to asbestos. The lawsuit against Carnival was filed for pain and suffering before he died, as well as loss of earnings and support to the victim’s family as a result of his cancer. The trial lasted nine days but it only took the jury under four hours to award the family $3.6 million.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos lawsuits

Asbestos Affected Claimants Can Now Claim From W.R. Grace

January 14, 2015 By

W.R. Grace & Co. are now accepting and paying personal injury and death claims due to asbestos, after 13 years.

In 2001, W.R. Grace & Co. filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. They were facing many claims which were primarily due to the addition of asbestos to their various commercial and residential fire protection and plaster products.

In 2008, a settlement was reached and they created an independent trust to pay all pending and future asbestos related personal injury claims. It took then almost six years to finalize the settlement through Chapter 11 and when the company came out of bankruptcy in early 2104, the plan which outlines how they will pay both unsettled and future asbestos claims was put into effect.

The trust recognizes asbestosis and other asbestos related diseases as well as the most serious one, mesothelioma. If a claimant can prove their disease is due to exposure to Grace products, they can then claim from the trust and should contact an attorney who specializes in asbestos related claims.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos lawsuits

Asbestos in California

January 9, 2015 By

California is the state with the most deaths due to asbestos exposure in the country and it also has some of the largest deposits of naturally occurring asbestos in the world.

Several sites in California have been designated Superfund sites by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many of them are due to asbestos related problems such as Hunters Point Naval Shipyard which used asbestos widely and the W.R.Grace site used to process materials containing asbestos, leading to contamination of the surrounding area.

Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) is present in 35 out of the state’s 58 counties and poses a serious problem. The entire city of Coalinga received Superfund status because mining and processing spread the natural asbestos throughout the town as well as the asbestos mines there which operated mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. El Dorado Hills is another dangerous area being home to one of the largest NOA deposits in the entire world.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: California abestos

Concern About Asbestos Dust

January 2, 2015 By

Some people in the Bayview-Hunters Point are worried about the health impact of the demolition of Candlestick Park stadium.

The demolition was originally planned as a piece by piece take down but Lennar Corp. has now suggested implosion would be preferable.

Lennar is the developer of a mixed-use shopping center on the site, and if approved, implosion would be both quicker and cheaper for them.

However, neighborhood leaders and others are concerned that the resulting dust cloud could cause toxins in the atmosphere as the studies of similar implosions show that the dust has traveled as far as 20 kilometers from the site.

It is known that the stadium contains asbestos, PCBs and lead based paint and although Lennar say they are removing the hazardous materials in preparation for the implosion, residents do not trust the company as they were previously fined more than $500,000 by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in 2008 for allowing dust containing asbestos to drift into nearby neighborhoods during grading work.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: California abestos

Check Your Drinking Water Does Not Contain Asbestos

December 23, 2014 By

Aging water pipes could put you and your family at risk of contracting the deadly cancer, mesothelioma.

Asbestos cement was used for decades in the United States to make many products including water pipes. In fact, the Asbestos Diseases Awareness Organization estimates that there were millions of miles of asbestos cement pipes installed in the country between the 1960s and the 1980s, and several of them are now reaching the end of their 50 to 70 year lifespan and are beginning to break down.

There is now concern that if the pipes are not handled properly they could release the asbestos fibers into the atmosphere which not only is a risk to residents and those working on them, the asbestos could even end up in drinking water.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration have established strict guidelines for the handling of asbestos cement by workers but they are not always followed. And according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), decay of asbestos cement water mains is the one of the biggest sources of mesothelioma as the asbestos contaminates the drinking water.

If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: Asbestos Mesothelioma

Schools Still Closed amid Budget Problems

December 19, 2014 By

Uncertainty remains about when hundreds of students can return to their regular classrooms after trustees of the Ocean View School District agreed Thursday to delay work needed to reopen one of three campuses closed after asbestos was discovered.

Huntington Beach district is facing a possible $7.8 million budget shortfall following the discovery of asbestos which closed Oak View, Lake View and Hope View elementary schools so that potentially hazardous material could be removed.

When Hope View, Oak View and Lake View were built decades ago, asbestos was used as fireproofing on metal beams above the ceilings. Over time, asbestos dust began to fall from the beams and settle on classroom ceiling tiles, and while undisturbed asbestos is not harmful, it can become a hazard when the dust becomes airborne and cause cancer and other lung disease if inhaled over time.

Now the cost of removing the asbestos and modernizing the schools is thought to be an additional $9.2 million in costs which was not budgeted for.

The district board has now agreed to finish asbestos removal at Lake View but to put off all work at Oak View, where asbestos removal and construction have not yet started.

The three closed campuses could reopen once the asbestos work has been completed although it is now unlikely the modernization work will go ahead.

If you have been diagnosed with asbestos a related disease, you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Contact the Law Office of Brayton Purcell, LLP  at  (800) 598-0314 immediately, or contact us online for a free consultation.

Filed Under: California abestos
« Previous Page
Next Page »