Michelle Kimmel's blog

Take Justice Back highlights six additional asbestos victim stories

David served as an electrician’s mate in the U.S. Navy for 20 years. During his tenure, he was exposed to asbestos-containing equipment and materials. From this asbestos exposure David developed mesothelioma cancer so severe he was forced to sleep in a chair because he could no longer breathe lying down.  Shortly before his 50th wedding anniversary, David died. 

Instead of protecting people like David, Congress is fast-tracking legislation that would grant a handout to the very same corporations that knowingly exposed millions of Americans to this deadly toxin.  Today the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is marking up H.R. 982: The FACT Act.  This bill threatens to delay justice and deny accountability until asbestos victims die.  It also publicly reveals extensive personal information about asbestos victims, inviting invasions of privacy and potential identity theft.

Congress is fast-tracking legislation that would grant a handout to corporations that knowingly exposed millions of Americans to the deadly toxin – asbestos.  Previously, during a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Chairman Spencer Bachus promised to hear from victims who oppose this bill.  That request has gone unfulfilled. 

Buried in the fine print of everything from credit card, cell phone and nursing home contracts to employee handbooks and online user agreements are dangerous forced arbitration clauses that take away your right to go to court. Instead you are forced into a private arbitration tribunal designed by the very corporation that broke the law. The process is secretive, costly and rigged so that corporations cannot be held accountable. By removing access to justice, it grants corporations a license to steal and violate the law.

Do you know what is hidden in the fine print of the contracts you routinely agree to?  Chances are you have signed away your right to access the courtroom and didn’t even know it!  

Included in many everyday consumer contracts are dangerous forced arbitration clauses that take away your right to go to court and instead force you into a private arbitration tribunal designed by the very corporation you have a dispute against.  The process is secretive, costly and rigged so that corporations cannot be held accountable!

In honor of National Asbestos Awareness Week, help protect asbestos victims’ rights by urging Congress to oppose legislation that threatens to delay and deny justice until asbestos victims die.  Your action will make a difference!

Washington, DC—At 61, Carlos Stapleton of Cumming, Ga., was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly cancer with one known cause: exposure to asbestos. He died less than a year later. Carlos is among the hundreds of thousands of Americans killed by asbestos. In honor of National Asbestos Awareness Week, Take Justice Back is highlighting the stories of Carlos and three other asbestos victims and the fight to protect access to justice.

Today a House Judiciary subcommittee markup was abruptly suspended on the FACT Act (H.R.982), an anti-victim bill that grants a handout to asbestos corporations seeking to evade accountability.

Instead of focusing on issues like the economy and job-creation, today the House Judiciary Committee is continuing its anti-accountability campaign with a double feature of hearings focused on limiting Americans’ access to justice. 

The House Judiciary Committee continued its anti-accountability campaign yesterday with the reintroduction of the so-called “Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2013.”  Do not let the name fool you; this bill has one goal: to aid asbestos corporations in delaying and denying justice until asbestos victims die.