In a reversal of the previous legal precedent, an Alabama Supreme Court ruled to extend the statute of limitations on law suits by those who fall ill after exposure to toxins in the workplace. The court ruled in favor of a man who developed Acute Mylogenic Leukemia (AML) after exposure to Benzene at his job in a B.F. Goodwrench tire plant. Although the man worked at the Goodwrench plant between 1973 and 1993, his cancer did not present itself until 2003. Doctors have long listed Benzene as a major culprit in the appearance of AML, but note that the timeline of the disease is unpredictable. Previously, Alabama required all workplace illness and injury lawsuits to be filed within two years of exposure. For most of the relevant illnesses, two years was simply not enough time.
B.F. Goodwrench lawyer, George Walker warned that this precedent would create an open season during which anyone who worked in a factory or plant could claim compensation for illnesses of tenuous relation. He warned that workplace chemicals like benzene would be to this decade what asbestos was to the last. Of course, asbestos was removed from all work buildings as soon as the litigious flood gates opened. Let’s hope that Mr. TK is right and benzene is banned from all environments.
