Employers’ Liability—Assessment of Damages—Reduction to Reflect Fault of other Parties

Extract

The claimant was employed for 39 years as a marine fitter, working for various employers. For 24 of those years he was exposed to asbestos, and eventually he developed asbestosis, presumably as a result of that exposure. He sued the defendants, one of the firms that had employed him; about 12 years of his exposure, half the total, were suffered through the defendants’ negligence and breach of statutory duty. General damages were assessed at £32,000. The issue was whether or to what extent those damages should be reduced, to reflect the fact that other firms (now either insolvent or untraceable) shared the responsibility for the claimant’s exposure to risk.