Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

Hugh Todd Nye was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died before he was ever able to seek compensation from the company which may have caused his disease.  Instead, his surviving relatives took up the banner and sued North Brothers (another name for National Service Industries) in a Tennessee Supreme Court.  However, the suit ended with an unsatisfying verdict after jurors were given improper instruction in the case.  While the jury found that North Brothers was responsible for the asbestos exposure and related mesothelioma diagnosis, they found for the defendant rather than Nye’s family on a technicality.

However, the cause is not lost.

The Supreme Court has agreed that the victim’s family deserves another chance and has cleared the way for further legal proceedings against the company.

This all stems from possible asbestos exposure suffered by Todd Nye while he was working as a CP operator at the DuPont plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee from 1948-1985.  During that 40 year period Nye was repeatedly (and unknowingly) exposed to products which contained asbestos—a known carcinogen.

Asbestos was a common additive in machine and automobile parts and products before it was banned.  However, many of the companies operating at the time understood that the product was potentially dangerous but refused (or neglected) to put proper warnings or safety instructions on their products. 

The mesothelioma lawsuit against North Brothers is just another example of how employers can shield themselves from prosecution in cancer cases but producers of toxic chemicals cannot.  The law, especially mesothelioma law, can be tricky to navigate and the Nye family found out the hard way that it can sometimes fall to the victims to not only prove that a wrong was committed but to avoid legal loopholes which may protect the wrongdoers.

The family is confident that this “second chance” they have been granted will allow them “to put to rest some technical legal issues that were hampering progress in this and other asbestos cases, and in turn allow us to devote more attention to the substantive merits of the cases,” said the family’s attorney.

While this victory is for one family alone, it sets a precedent in Tennessee and all across the United States, giving victims of faulty products, asbestos exposure, and mesothelioma caused by negligence or criminal acts yet another avenue for attack against the companies which have caused them so much pain and suffering. 

While it is impossible to foresee the future, the family stands a good chance of winning their case considering that one jury already agreed that North Brothers was at fault.