Tort

A tort is a civil wrong, an act or failure to act that harms another person and gives the injured person the right to sue for money damages. Unlike a crime, which is prosecuted by the government, a tort claim is brought by the injured person (or their family) against whoever caused the harm. Most asbestos cases are tort cases.

Origin

The word comes from the Latin tortum, meaning "twisted" or "wrong," passing through Old French as tort. English common law developed the modern body of tort law over centuries, organizing it into categories such as negligence, strict liability, and intentional wrongs.

Significance in Asbestos Context

Nearly every lawsuit a patient or family files over asbestos disease is a tort case. The most common theories are negligence (the company failed to warn or protect workers when it knew or should have known asbestos was dangerous), strict product liability (the asbestos-containing product was unreasonably dangerous as sold), and sometimes fraud or conspiracy (the company actively hid the hazard). Tort law is what allows a mesothelioma or lung cancer patient to recover medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and, in some cases, punitive damages for especially egregious corporate conduct. Each state has its own tort rules, which is one reason where a case is filed matters so much.

Example Sentence

After her husband's mesothelioma diagnosis, she met with a lawyer to discuss filing a tort action against the manufacturers of the insulation products he had used decades earlier.

Related Terms

Negligence, Strict Liability, Product Liability, Damages, Statute of Limitations, Wrongful Death

Notes

• Tort claims have strict filing deadlines (statutes of limitations) that often start running at diagnosis, not at exposure. Contact a lawyer promptly after diagnosis to avoid losing the right to sue.
• Preserve everything that documents exposure and disease: employment records, union records, military service records, product photos, co-worker contact information, and all medical records and pathology reports.
• If the exposed person dies, the tort claim typically converts into or is joined by a wrongful death claim brought by the surviving family. The deadlines for these can differ from personal injury deadlines.
• Tort recoveries from solvent defendants are separate from asbestos bankruptcy trust claims; an experienced asbestos firm will typically pursue both tracks in parallel.