Thurston Hensley, a railroad worker from Tennessee, who was awarded $5 million by a jury after being exposed to asbestos on the job, was denied the payout by the Supreme Court.
The payout was from CSX Corp., who Hensley sued for damages after being exposed to asbestos based on his fears of developing an asbestos-related cancer in the future. CSX appealed the decision reached in the lower courts because they felt that the instructions given to the jury were skewed to support Hensley. CSX argued that the jurors ought to have been instructed that Hensley had the burden of proof, and it was Hensley’s responsibility to prove his fears of developing an asbestos-related cancer were genuine.
The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of CSX, stating that the judge in the previous trial clearly made errors when giving the jurors their instructions. In the court’s opinion, the justices wrote “Although plaintiffs can seek fear-of-cancer damages in some … cases, they must satisfy a high standard in order to obtain them.â€
Tags: Asbestos, asbestos exposure