Asbestos Injury Lawsuit Becomes Wrongful Death Lawsuit

February 25, 2011

Kansas City, MO The change of status with regard to an Asbestos lawsuit speaks volumes. What began as a personal injury lawsuit in Kansas City sadly turned into a wrongful death lawsuit after the original plaintiff, who filed a Mesothelioma lawsuit last year, died.



Nancy Lopez worked as a judicial administrative assistant for Division 7 in the Jackson County Courthouse for some 30 years before her diagnosis of asbestos-related cancer in 2009. Her original lawsuit, filed March 18, 2010, in Jackson County Circuit Court in Kansas, alleged that dust laden with asbestos fibers had been spread throughout the building from accumulation in and around the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) since at least 1983.



Specifically, the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit makes reference to remodeling of the courthouse building that may have exposed Lopez and others working inside the building—as well as visitors to the building—to asbestos fibers.



Asbestos was long used in buildings for insulation, and was at one time especially popular as wraps for furnace ductwork. The mere presence of asbestos is not thought to be dangerous so long as it remains undisturbed. It is only when asbestos fibers are disturbed and allowed to get into the lungs via free-floating particles that the substance becomes dangerous.



In latter years, asbestos abatement, required when old buildings are renovated, has grown to become an exact science with strict process and protocol to protect workers, even passersby from exposure.



Of the various defendants named in the lawsuit, Kansas City-based US Engineering had been the acting contractor of record for maintenance, renovations and demolition projects related to the 77-year-old courthouse. Comments by attorneys for US Engineering filed in court records indicated that the defendant had never been engaged in the application, demolition, renovation or abatement of asbestos-containing materials.



Nancy Lopez had been seeking unidentified asbestos compensation before she died October 9 of last year. Her mother Ruth Lopez is now listed as the primary plaintiff in an amended Lopez v. US Engineering. The amended lawsuit also includes three additional defendants who at one time worked for the County in building services and purchasing.



Asbestos claims also extend to a class-action lawsuit against Jackson County and US Engineering (David Elesa v. US Engineering Co. et al) on behalf of any individual who has worked in, visited or conducted business in the courthouse since 1983, as well as the individual's family members.



There have been prior incidents of workers bringing home asbestos-laden work clothes and unknowingly transferring the risk to unsuspecting family members, resulting in asbestos injury.