Landlord Mishandles Asbestos Problem

Topeka apartment residents are looking for answers after they received notice of possible asbestos contamination in their building.

A positive asbestos air test in the Fontainebleau Apartments prompted the manager to seal off apartment units. When residents were finally able to get back into their homes, they were shocked to find missing items, as well as items still inside that were listed as disposed of due to asbestos contamination.

“My mom was military,” one said. “She died in the service. I had a teddy bear with her dog tags on it that got disposed of I can no longer find but was not a part of our list of things that got disposed of. That’s heartbreaking.”

When residents complained about the problem, “Our housing manager locked herself in her office,” the same resident said, “turned on the closed sign and made it seem like she wasn’t there, while we were having this conversation with the Service Master about things going on with our property. That seems highly inappropriate to me.”

Most apartment buildings in the United States, as well as most other buildings, were constructed before 1980. Therefore, asbestos lurks in most private and commercial buildings, usually in attic insulation, plumbing/pipe insulation, drywall, roof tiles, and most other parts of the structure. Extended exposure to asbestos could cause:

• Pleural Mesothelioma: The five-year survival rate for this rare and aggressive form of lung cancer is less than 10%. Mostly, that is because these victims have been sick for at least 50 years, but neither they nor their doctors knew it. When lung cancer tumors grow undetected, they quickly spread to other organs.
• Asbestosis: Toxic particle-induced cellular mutation causes tumors to form. Asbestos fibers also burn tissues and cause lung disease, also known as popcorn lung. The burns create scar tissue that eventually blocks critical airways inside the lung. So, asbestosis victims have constant trouble breathing, even while asleep or at rest.
• Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Inhaled fibers usually cause lung diseases. Swallowed fibers, usually from asbestos-tainted water, cause peritoneal mesothelioma, a form of abdominal cancer. This cancer is very hard to detect, mostly because these victims have no genetic or other risk factors. PtM is treatable, but the treatment is risky and radical.

Asbestos fibers cause these diseases, and asbestos fibers could cause other kinds of cancer as well. These fibers increase the production of free-radical particles, which are associated with a higher cancer risk.

So, if you lived or worked in or near an asbestos-laden building or another hotspot, like a mine, and you develop cancer, always ask an asbestos exposure lawyer to review your case.

Asbestos exposure-related diseases are normally fatal. Therefore, compensation in these cases is usually high. Property owners, who in a way are also victims of the asbestos coverup, could be liable for these damages, at least in most states.

For many years, asbestos providers concealed the health risks not only from the workers who handled the products but also from the property owners who bought these products. In 2019, the Supreme Court gutted the major legal defense in these cases, which was a lack of actual knowledge of asbestos use.

Thus, property owners are open to liability judgments. Because the latency period for asbestos exposure illnesses is so long, liability judgment might come more than 50 years after the exposure. So, if Frank’s Barber Shop contained asbestos, Frank Jr. Jr. might face a large liability judgment.

Asbestos abatement is the only way to eliminate this liability risk. Some recent innovations have made the process less expensive, but it is still very costly.

Nevertheless, asbestos abatement is the only way property owners can reduce liability risk and, perhaps more importantly, protect the health and safety of the people who come onto the property.

Mesothelioma victims need and deserve significant compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced nationwide mesothelioma lawyer, contact the Throneberry Law Group. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.