New York Personal Injury Laws

Staten Island Asbestos Exposure

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you worked on Staten Island, and you’re wondering, “How did you get this disease?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I could give you some information about how workers were exposed to asbestos on Staten Island. We know that on Staten Island there’s a major Con Edison powerhouse – the Arthur Kill Powerhouse – wherein, electrical power is generated, and steam lines are coded and covered with asbestos, and there’s asbestos products that was used throughout this powerhouse, which exposed the workers – who worked at the powerhouse – to asbestos. At the mouth of Newark Bay, was the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, where large ships were built and repaired. That work involved the use of asbestos products by all the tradesman who worked on those ships.

 Housing Boom Increased Exposure

During the course of the last century, there was a housing boom, and Staten Island was built up to become a very populated borough. In order to do that, homes, apartment buildings, and even government housing projects were built on Staten Island. All of that work was done by tradesmen – the union tradesmen, non-union tradesmen – and it involved the use of asbestos products in the building of all of those residential structures.

Now, you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and I’m sure you have questions about asbestos and asbestos exposure. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm, we answer questions from mesothelioma victims and their families every day. I invite you to give our office a call, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Iron Workers at the World Trade Center

Did you know that iron workers that worked at the World Trade Center during its construction were exposed to asbestos? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney based in New York City and I could give you information about how iron workers were exposed to asbestos at the World Trade Center site during its construction.

 How Did They Get Exposed to Asbestos

Iron workers installed the steel eye beams that formed the metal framework of the buildings that composed the World Trade Center site. Those same steel beams were sprayed with asbestos-containing fireproofing spray. This fireproofing came in dry powder form. It was mixed with water and put into a gun and sprayed on the metal beams. The iron workers were nearby when that was happening – when the fireproofing was being sprayed into the air. That same fireproofing dried onto those beams. And iron workers, it would also be part of their duty to come back and with the overhead beams to install metal hangers onto them so that a drop ceiling could later be installed. Well, to install those metal hangers they had to scrape off that dry fireproofing causing asbestos dust which they breathe again.

Also iron workers, sometimes ornamental iron workers, did what’s called finishing work – things like railings throughout the World Trade Center – when other trades were doing their work. Work such as putting up sheetrock walls, or putting in floor tiles. These building materials contained asbestos. Now while the iron workers were doing their work the work of the other trades were exposing them to asbestos. Iron workers were exposed to asbestos dust in great quantities at the World Trade Center site during its construction.

Now you have mesothelioma and you have questions about asbestos exposure and about the World Trade Center site. I’m Joe Williams and at our firm we handle cases from mesothelioma victims and their families every day. I invite you to give us a call and we will answer your questions. Thank you.

Iron Workers Diagnosed With Mesothelioma

You worked as an iron worker, and you’ve now been diagnosed with mesothelioma and you’re asking yourself, “How did I get this disease?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about the types of exposures that iron workers had to asbestos. In order to do that, I want to talk to you about a former client of mine who was a union iron worker. He dealt with structural steel which he installed and worked on, which was also being sprayed with asbestos containing fire proofing spray. Now, he would be on one area of a floor while the sprayers were following his working and spraying the structural steel with fire proofing. That entailed mixing the dry fire proofing product with water, putting it into a gun, and the fire proof sprayers would spray the I-beams and the structural steel with this asbestos containing substance. While that was being sprayed onto the I-beams and into the air, my client was in the work space breathing in any asbestos dust created by that. In addition, after the fire proofing spray dried, and the ceiling had to be put in, hangers had to be attached – metal hangers had to be attached to the structural steel so that the drop ceiling could be installed. In order to do that, the fire proofing spray had to be scraped off of the structural steel. It was dry by that point, and the scraping of the fire proofing which contained asbestos caused dust in the air which the iron workers breathed – including my client. He also worked doing some ornamental iron work, and that meant that he was present at job sites when the job was more in the finishing process; when the internal walls were being put up, when the floors were being put in, because he would be putting in such things as railings and other steel fixtures, in perhaps tenant spaces or common areas. He was exposed to the work of other trades men who worked with joint compound or floor tile or ceiling tiles. Things that contained asbestos, and working with those products caused dust in the air that all the workers on the job site would breathe in. All of them being susceptible to later being diagnosed with mesothelioma. Now, decades later, years and years after his work with asbestos and work around asbestos, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. His doctors, after taking an occupational history, told him that his exposures to asbestos back on the work sites was the cause of his mesothelioma diagnosis. Now, I am telling you all this because you have questions about mesothelioma and about the types of exposures to asbestos that cause mesothelioma. I’m Joe Williams, and at our office we deal with these issues every day. We represent victims of mesothelioma and their families as they pursue justice for exposures to asbestos. If you have questions, contact our office. We’ll answer your questions. Thanks for listening.

Injured At Work

If you’ve been injured as a result of falling from a location at work or having something fall and strike you at work, you may have the right to bring a lawsuit under the New York State Labor Law. In order to determine whether or not you have a proper claim under that law, it’s necessary to access all the circumstances of your accident. For more information about a possible claim under the New York Labor Law, call the Maurer Law Firm or visit our website for more information on what you may be entitled.

Suing Your Employer

When you’re injured on the job, you’re not permitted to sue your employer unless you work for the railroad or maritime industries. However, if you’ve been injured as a result of the negligence of a third-party, you may have a basis for a lawsuit.

Workers’ compensation laws bar you from suing your employer or a co-worker. You need an experienced law firm who understands what’s involved and how to analyze the facts and circumstances of your own claim to know if you in fact have a basis for a lawsuit.

The New York Labor Law requires full protection and safety devices to prevent workers from sustaining injuries when working at heights. Failure to do so can impose 100% liability for your injuries.

Being injured on the job can leave you wondering, “What’s going to happen to my future?” If you’ve been injured on the job, contact me or visit my website to find out how I can help turn your life around.

Auto Mechanic Asbestos Exposure

You were a professional auto mechanic, and you worked with asbestos-containing brakes your entire life. Now you’ve been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a Mesothelioma trial attorney here in New City, and I can answer your questions.

 How One Auto Mechanic Was Exposed

I can do that by talking to you about some clients I’ve represented in the past. One client in particular, who was a former auto mechanic, and changed thousands of brakes on automobiles. In his deposition, he testified about the work that he did. He talked about using both OEM, Original Equipment Manufactured brake linings, which are brake linings manufactured by the same company that made the car.

He also used after market brake linings, which are manufactured by companies who didn’t manufacture the car. They just manufactured brake linings. What he would do, this former client of mine, he would take off the four wheels of the car after the car was put on a lift. He would remove the brakes. He would blow out the drum with an air compressor, causing a lot of dust in the air.

He would then take the new metal shoe with the attached brake lining out of the box, and install it into the vehicle, wheel by wheel. This process of removing the old brake, blowing out the drum, handling the asbestos-containing brake lining, the new one, and installing them into the vehicle, exposed him to asbestos dust. He did this work every day, and he did it for many decades, and was exposed to asbestos dust thousands of times from working on asbestos-containing brake linings in automobiles.

Now, if you’re an auto mechanic, you’ve probably had some very similar exposures. I’m sure you have questions about Mesothelioma and how auto mechanics were exposed to asbestos. I’m Joe Williams, and in our firm we handle cases every day for Mesothelioma victims. We can answer your questions. I invite you to call our office at the number below, and we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Lung Cancer Versus Mesothelioma

When new clients come into my office, they often talk to me about their lung cancer. They mention mesothelioma, but they don’t really understand the difference. I want to talk to you about that difference now. Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you a little bit about these two different diseases, both of which can be caused by asbestos. First let’s talk about lung cancer. Lung cancer is a malignancy that grows within the lung itself. Now, here in this anatomical drawing, the lungs are represented here. This is known as the lung parenchyma. It’s a spongy organ that is within the bony rib cage. Now, lung cancer as it’s known– and there’s many different cell types of lung cancer. But lung cancer just generally, is a discrete tumor inside the parenchyma, inside the tissue of the lung.

So you’ve heard the term golf ball-like tumor. Sometimes, doctors refer to it as a nodule. That’s the kind of tumor that happens within the lung tissue. Again, there’s different cell types, but it’s generally called lung cancer. Now, mesothelioma is very different. Mesothelioma is a very specific cancer, and it’s really only two different cell types – epithelial mesothelioma or sarcomatoid mesothelioma – or it can be a combination of the two. That’s called biphasic mesothelioma. But no matter which cell type it is, mesothelioma is a tumor – a malignant tumor – of the lining outside the lung. Now, outside the lung, you see this whitish grey substance here. That’s the pleura. There’s a parietal pleura and a visceral pleura, and these two pleural surfaces interact with the outside of the lung and the inside of the rib cage, and in-between the two of them, there’s a little bit of liquid. So as our diaphragm involuntarily contracts, it pushes the spongy lung tissue – the spongy lung organ – up, and allows us to take a breath. The pleural surface allows the lung to slide along inside the bony rib cage. And we don’t even know it happened, it’s involuntary.

When someone has malignant mesothelioma, a tumor of these pleural surfaces, just breathing can cause pain. Also, the tumor pushes in on the spongy lung tissue, contracts the lung. You can’t get a full breath. Mesothelioma victims experience shortness of breath because of that. The mesothelioma tumor does not grow like a golf ball. It’s a diffuse tumor that grows in a diffuse pattern along the pleural surface, and tends to encase the lung area. Some have described it like a rind of a grapefruit. It’s a diffuse tumor. Those are some of the differences between lung cancer and mesothelioma. I’m telling you this, because you have questions about mesothelioma, about asbestos exposure.

I’m Joe Williams. At my office we handle cases for victims of mesothelioma and lung cancer every day. We deal with these issues, deal with these questions each and every day. If you have questions, I invite you to contact our office. We’ll answer your questions. Thank you for watching.

Pleural Mesothelioma

How does a person get pleural mesothelioma? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City and in order to explain to you the general ways in which mesothelioma forms in the human body, I need to talk to you a little bit about the process of how those fibers get into the system.

Electrician Diagnosed with Mesothelioma

You’ve worked as an electrician, and you’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma. You’re trying to figure out, “How did you get this disease?” Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about the types of exposures to asbestos that electricians faced. Now, in order to do that, I want to talk to you about a former client of mine who’s a member of Local 3, which is the electrician’s union here in New York, where we’re shooting this video right now. This particular client was diagnosed with mesothelioma, and he was exposed to asbestos in a lot of different ways. He worked with electrical panel boards, which controlled the electricity for a residential or commercial space. That’s where the electric current comes in from the street, and it is sent out through the switches to the building. In the back of the panel boards was asbestos containing Bakelite, that acted as a insulator between the busbar and the switches. From time to time, he’d have to drill or cut through that Bakelite, to fabricate the panel boards or to install and remove them.

 Where Does Asbestos Exposure Occur

He was exposed to dust from cutting the Bakelite. He also worked throughout the course of his career with switches – switches and arc chutes – which had asbestos components. Again, part of it was Bakelite, which he had to manipulate and cut during repair work, which exposed him to asbestos. This former client of mine dealt with large switchgear, which had asbestos components, as well as, large transformers, which had asbestos gaskets that had to be replaced each time the transformer was opened. He also pulled and cut wire that was insulated with asbestos insulation. All of these things throughout the course of an entire working career exposed him to asbestos on a continual daily basis. As a result of those exposures, he developed mesothelioma. Now, his mesothelioma was diagnosed many, many years after he stopped working, and that’s because– and the doctors who evaluated his case said the same thing. The exposure to asbestos, even though, many years prior, caused the mesothelioma decades later. It’s because there’s a period between 20 and 60 years – in some cases – of time between the time of exposure, and the time of diagnosis in mesothelioma.

Why am I telling you this? Because you have questions about mesothelioma. I’m Joe Williams. At our office, we deal with these issues every day. Call our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.