Asbestos Mesothelioma: A Tale of Two Trials

Middlesex, MAIt's been a three-year battle for Belinda Martin, who has been carrying the asbestos mesothelioma torch for her late father Charlie for three years now. And just before her case was about to go to trial, a settlement was reached.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

It was in 2005 that Belinda Martin joined a massive, and ongoing class action asbestos lawsuit that had been circulating since 1994. Thousands of plaintiffs have joined the class action since then, and more than 200 individual cases have been severed from it over that time.

Martin joined the class action on behalf of her late father in July of 2005. In November of that year, her suit was severed. Since then Martin and her legal team have been battling more than 110 defendant companies over the premature death of her beloved father.

Martin was granted what was expected to be a protracted trial. However just prior to the commencement of Martin vs. Georgia Pacific and Guard-Line before Judge Gary Sanderson in 60th District Court, Jefferson County, the two parties settled before the jury pool was even complete.

Charlie Martin was one of thousands of workers who toiled for years, not knowing that the very air they breathed was slowly killing them. Asbestos is a known carcinogen, and various worksites over the years have been inundated with asbestos dust and asbestos fibers that ultimately have compromised the health, and hastened the deaths of loyal workers who had no idea the hazards they were near.

It is alleged, however, that many of those doomed workers' employers knew, or should have known what was happening, but took no precautions on behalf of their employees.

Sadly, there are many like Charlie Martin, and Mr. Dolan is one of them. At 58, the Massachusetts man is dying from asbestos mesothelioma and is not expected to live more than a year. After filing an asbestos personal injury case in 2007, his trial was expedited due to his rapidly worsening health.

Asbestos mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos over a prolonged period. In Dolan's case, he claimed to have been exposed to asbestos while working at various construction sites in the Boston area throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Specifically, Dolan claimed to have been exposed to the asbestos-laden products of 29 companies throughout those two decades. In Dolan v. Certain Teed & UGL et al, the dying man was seeking $1.8 million in lost wages, and to cover his medical bills.

In the movies, the hero takes the day and the good guy always wins. But sadly, it seems, that's not always the case in life—and in this case the jury sided with the defendants. Mr. Dolan gets nothing.

It is not known if the plaintiff will appeal.

He may not have time…