New York Personal Injury Laws

Jewelers Exposed to Asbestos

Did you know that jewelers could be exposed to asbestos from their work as a jeweler, and later in life be diagnosed with mesothelioma? Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I want to talk to you about some of these asbestos exposures.

 When the Exposure Occurs

A jeweler would work on casting jewelry. In order to do that, they would do something called the lost wax method in which they would make a mold using wax in a container. The important part of this is that the container itself would be lined with an asbestos containing product, often an asbestos containing paper. That material would have to be cut and manipulated to get into the mold. The asbestos was used so that when the mold is put into the oven, it would stand the high heat of the oven during the molding process. The jeweler would be cutting this asbestos paper product exposing themselves to asbestos fibers and asbestos dust over the course of their career.

In addition to that, jewelers soldered jewelry. They did that on soldering boards, or pounding boards, made of an asbestos stone. The repeated use of this board made of stone over the course of time released asbestos dust that the jeweler would breath on a continual and daily basis. These exposures to asbestos can cause a jeweler to develop mesothelioma decades later, later in their life, even after their work has long stopped.

Now, I’m telling you this because you have questions about mesothelioma, and about what causes mesothelioma. I’m Joe Williams, and at my law firm we deal with these issues every day. We represent mesothelioma victims and their families each and every day. If you have questions, I invite you to contact our office, and we will answer your questions. Thank you.

Manhattan Workers Vulnerable to Asbestos

You’ve been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and you worked in Manhattan, in New York City, New York. And you’re wondering, where did you get this disease from? Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney, and I am in New York City, New York.

I have some information for you about asbestos exposure sites in Manhattan. Now, every discussion about asbestos exposure in Manhattan starts with a discussion about building and construction. Here in New York City, the skyscrapers and the Manhattan skyline that we all know so well, were built primarily throughout the course of the last century.

Where The Exposure Came From

The World Trade Center was built in the late ’60s and into the 1970s, and at the time was the largest construction project in the world, creating the tallest buildings in the world at the time. The Brooklyn Navy Yard is just a stone’s throw away across the East River to Brooklyn.

Where ships were constructed and built using all manner of asbestos products. Other famous buildings like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, as well as lesser known high-rises, multi multi story buildings were constructed during the course of the last century with union tradesmen’s hands, which exposed those workers to asbestos dust.

Large hospitals, perhaps even hospitals that you are being treated at such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell, NYU, Columbia Presbyterian. These hospitals are large medical facilities which were built during the course of the past century.

The subway and transit system, has been built and worked on during the course of the last century by union hands. All of this work exposed workers to asbestos. Now you have mesothelioma, and if you worked in New York City, you could have been exposed at these job sites.

We have information about these job sites and about asbestos exposure. I’m Joe Williams, and at our firm we handle cases for mesothelioma victims and their families every day. If you have questions, we can answer those questions. I invite you to look at the number on the screen below, and give us a call. We’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

Railroad Retirement Benefits

If you’re disabled and worked long enough for the railroad, you may be entitled to benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board. Applying for railroad retirement disability benefits can be difficult, long, and drawn out but it doesn’t have to be.

Disability Benefits Law FIrm

At Insler & Hermann, we navigate the process for you. We make it as easy as possible for you and your family. Call us today. The sooner you meet with us, the sooner we can help you receive the benefits you deserve. We don’t get paid unless you win. Be our next success story.

By: Lew Insler

Personal Injury Medical Process

It’s quite common in my experience for people to come into my office who think they have a soft tissue injury and they don’t realize the serious nature of the injury that they’ve sustained. A herniated disk is a good example of that. Sometimes people have herniated disk and they have pain in their back going down their legs to their feet, yet diagnostic tests don’t show the herniation and they can be wandering from doctor to doctor. At the Maurer Law Firm, we have a lot of experience with these types of injuries, and we have the resources so that we can assist you in obtaining a proper diagnosis and care.

Railroad Passenger Injured

When a passenger on a railroad is injured, you need an attorney that can process and can anticipate what the railroad’s going to do to defend itself. When I handle your case, I have your best interest in mind and work with you to understand the process.

Plasterers Exposed to Asbestos

You spent a career as a plasterer. Now you’ve been diagnosed with Mesothelioma and you’re wondering how it is that you got this terrible disease.

Hi, I’m Joe Williams. I’m a Mesothelioma trial attorney in New York City, and I certainly can answer these questions for you.

How Plasterers Became Exposed to Asbestos

We know that plasterers dealt with plaster every day of their working career. And back in the ‘50s and ‘60s and before that time interior structural walls in commercial building, and in residential as well, were made with plaster. And that means, as you know, that wire lath was installed within the wall and the plaster was a dry mixed product, mixed with water and applied to the lath and allowed to dry, then sanded down. And the amount of dust created from that sanding was tremendous in the workspace of every worker on that job site. And we know that many of these plaster products back in that timeframe contained asbestos.

Sometime in the ‘60s some of the building materials changed and we went from plaster walls to sheetrock walls. And that’s of course what’s in use today. The sheetrock nailed or screwed—used to be nailed, now they’re screwed to the studs, and they used to be wood studs now they’re mostly metal studs, between the seams of the sheetrock a product called joint compound was used to seal and smooth the walls in those areas. And also for all of the nail or screw holes where the sheetrock was attacked to the studs. And the joint compound on large construction sites was usually a dry product that was mixed with water and applied to the seams of the sheetrock and to the screw or nail holes. Additionally, that joint compound came in a premixed compound which was in a bucket or a can and it was already wet and it was applied to the wall in the same way on the seams of the sheetrock or on the screw or nail holes. And whether it started wet or dry, eventually it was made wet and put on the walls and allowed to dry. And once it dried it had to be sanded smooth. And multiple coats of this process was done and sanded down, all creating a lot of asbestos dust that plasterers and workers breathed.

So these are many of the ways that a plasterer would have been exposed to asbestos dust on a work site. Now, I’m sure you have many other questions about your work and how it could have caused you to be exposed to asbestos. Well, we have the answers. I’m Joe Williams. I invite you to call my office at the number below and we can discuss your case and the way you were exposed to asbestos.

We handle Mesothelioma cases every day. We represent the victims of asbestos exposure each and every day and we’ll be happy to answer your questions. Thank you.

Railroad Workers Exposed to Asbestos

How were railroad workers exposed to asbestos, and what can they do about it if they get mesothelioma? Hi, I’m Joe Williams, I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney and I want to talk to you about the types of exposures that workers on the railroad would have confronted during the course of their working career.

Protection With FELA statute

The first thing you need to know is that railroad employees are protected under the FELA statute. It’s a federal statute, the Federal Employers Liability Act, which requires the railroad to provide a safe working environment for their railroad employees. So if the railroad was negligent and not providing a safe working atmosphere, and if the employee gets sick and gets mesothelioma as a result, the railroad can be held legally responsible for that.

 A Former Client

Let me illustrate this by talking to you about a former client of my office who was a railroad worker. Now, this railroad worker worked on locomotives and trains as well as the cars themselves and he was exposed to asbestos from the insulation on the exhaust system of the locomotives, to asbestos from the controls and switches in the electrical components of the cars themselves, and he was exposed to asbestos from the work that others did around him with asbestos containing brakes that existed on the cars. There was also iron brakes, but some of them were made of asbestos. All of these exposures contributed during the course of a working lifetime to, unfortunately, give this client mesothelioma, and when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma he wanted to know what he could do about it. After an understanding that the FELA statute was designed to protect him, he was able to bring a claim against the railroad under the FELA statute.

Now why am I telling you this? It’s because you have questions about mesothelioma and the types of exposures that railroad workers would confront on the job. I’m Joe Williams, at my law firm we represent mesothelioma victims each and every day, and we deal with issues like this every day. If you have questions I invite you to contact our office. We are here to answer your questions. Thank you for listening.

Navy Machinist Mate Exposed to Asbestos

You are a machinist mate in the United States Navy, and you served our country, and all these years later you’ve now been diagnosed with mesothelioma. And you want to know 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 to asbestos, that navy seamen and machinist mates encounter when they worked on navy ships.

I want to do that by talking about a former client of mine, and he actually was a machinist mate on a aircraft carrier. His work took place primarily in the boiler room. You probably know it as the fire room. He worked on all the equipment in the boiler room.

The boiler itself, as well as the pumps that pumped hot water and different fuels and oils for different uses throughout the ship. He dealt with all the systems for propulsion of the ship. And his work with the boiler involve dealing with the asbestos installation that was on this large marine boiler.

There was actually two of them on the ship. And he dealt with the asbestos installation, removing it, reinstalling it after his work. He dealt with asbestos gaskets as it related to the boiler. He dealt with the pumps that were throughout the boiler room and really throughout the ship, in particular the large boiler feed pumps.

He dealt with packing and gaskets that were made of asbestos, as well as insulation that was on the piping and on the pumps. He dealt with valves that were placed throughout the ships, and he also dealt with other equipment in the boiler room and throughout the ship.

The work that he did with asbestos products that included installation, gaskets, and packing, all of these exposures contributed to him developing mesothelioma many decades later. And his doctors informed him that it was those exposures to asbestos when he was in the navy years and years ago, that all these years later, only just a few years ago, caused him to be diagnosed with mesothelioma.

And that’s what’s expected with mesothelioma. The exposures happen, and then 20 to up to 60 years later the patient’s diagnosed with this cancer, mesothelioma. A cancer caused by asbestos. Now, you have questions about mesothelioma, and about the types of exposures that US Navy servicemen faced when they served our country on US Naval vessels.

I’m Joe Williams. At our office we handle cases for victims of mesothelioma and for their families every day. We deal with these issues on a daily basis. Call our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.

World War Two Workers Exposed to Asbestos

70,000 workers worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War 2, and they were all exposed to asbestos. Hi. I’m Joe Williams. I’m a mesothelioma trial attorney here in New York City. I want to talk to you a little bit about the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Asbestos Exposure From Building Navy Ship

At the Brooklyn Navy Yard they were building ships since the time of the American Revolution. The site was 200 acres in size. Battleships like the USS Iowa and the Missouri were built there. The USS Antietam, an aircraft carrier was built and worked on there.

And I have a particular affinity for that ship because my father served on it during World War 2. In order to accomplish all of this work in the building and repair of US naval ships, there were foundries at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, with high heat and steam pipes insulated with asbestos.

 Asbestos Exposure In The Machine Shops

There was machine shops, where equipment was repaired and worked on for use in these giant US navy ships. There were warehouses where parts and equipment, including all manner of asbestos components were stored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for use by the workers at the yard.

 Long Days of Exposure

During it’s height at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, ships were built and repaired around the clock, 24 hours a day. And that work using all kinds of asbestos insulation and asbestos containing products at the yard, exposed all of the workers to asbestos. These exposures to asbestos are especially important, because mesothelioma can be diagnosed up to 50 or 60 years after the time of exposure. So we have victims today who present with a diagnoses of mesothelioma. That happen because of exposures to asbestos decades and decades ago at the Brooklyn Navy Yard when those navy ships were being built. You have questions about mesothelioma, and exposures to asbestos. I’m Joe Williams, at our firm we answer questions for mesothelioma victims and their families every day. I invite you to call our office, we’ll answer your questions. Thank you.