Coworker Testimony

Coworker testimony is evidence from people who worked alongside an injured person, describing the jobs, conditions and asbestos products they saw used. It is the most common way to prove which companies' products a worker was exposed to, especially when the worker has died or cannot remember brand names.

Origin

Asbestos lawsuits from the 1970s onward required plaintiffs to identify specific products and manufacturers, and records from decades earlier were often missing. Testimony from fellow workers, given in depositions, affidavits or at trial, became a central way to fill that gap.

Significance in Asbestos Context

A coworker may remember the brand names on boxes of pipe covering, the dust from sanding joint compound, or which trades worked near each other. Courts in many states test that evidence against standards such as the frequency, regularity and proximity test, which asks whether the worker was around the product often enough and close enough. Coworker testimony is also widely accepted by asbestos trusts. Defendants test it through cross-examination, asking how the witness knows a brand, what years, and how close the person was. Because coworkers are often elderly, lawyers may take their testimony early through a deposition that can be used at trial if the witness later becomes unavailable. Contact information for old coworkers, union rosters and retiree groups can be very valuable.

Example Sentence

Two retired boilermakers gave coworker testimony that they had seen the plaintiff tear out Johns-Manville block insulation at the refinery in the late 1960s.

Related Terms

Product Identification, Fact Witness, Deposition, De Bene Esse Deposition, Frequency, Regularity, Proximity Test, Exposure Affidavit

Notes

• Make a list of people you worked with, with any contact details, union locals or retiree groups you know of.
• Old photographs, pay stubs and union records can help coworkers place you at a job site.
• Coworkers should describe only what they personally saw and remember.