South Africa asbestos ruling may bring flood of claims to London

Our plain-English summary of South Africa asbestos ruling may bring flood of claims to London, by Lloyd's of London (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2000).

The study

• Author: Lloyd's of London
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2000;6(4):350-1
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is not a research study and contains no medical data. It reprinted a Lloyd's of London message about a House of Lords decision, followed by a comment signed by Richard Meeran, JD. The decision permitted a group claim by South African workers against the U.K. company Cape for personal injury allegedly suffered as a result of exposure to asbestos. The Lloyd's item said this could lead to a flood of similar claims against multinationals. It stated that the decision dealt only with where the case should be heard. Whether Cape had a duty of care would be the prime issue if the case came to court, and claimants would need test cases showing that individuals suffer from asbestos-related diseases. The comment cited a Thor Chemicals compensation claim settled in England in April 1997 for £1.3 million, after a South African criminal prosecution ended with a £3,000 fine. Meeran wrote that such cases can proceed in England if a lack of local funding is demonstrated, which should ensure access to justice in practice.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Not a research study: a reprinted news/legal commentary item from Lloyd's of London about a court decision, followed by a letter of comment, published in the journal's Letters section
• Who was studied: No study population. The item concerns a group legal claim by South African workers against the U.K. company Cape
• Exposure: Asbestos exposure alleged in the legal claim. No fiber type, product or dose is given
• Main results:
  • The reprinted statement was followed by a comment on it signed by Richard Meeran, JD, London
  • The House of Lords decision dealt only with where the case should be heard. It did not address whether Cape, as the parent company, had a duty of care regarding its South African subsidiary's operations
  • Duty of care was described as the prime issue if the case comes to court
  • One area to be decided is whether the claimants can identify test cases and satisfy the court that the individuals are suffering from asbestos-related diseases
  • A litigation partner quoted in the item, Jonathan Isted, said the Lords' approach could apply to other industries
  • The item noted that group actions in the UK and elsewhere have not always succeeded
  • The comment cited Thor Chemicals: a compensation claim brought in England was settled in April 1997 for £1.3 million, while an earlier criminal prosecution in South Africa of the subsidiary and its managers ended with a £3,000 fine
  • The comment stated that, following the judgment in the Cape case, such cases will be able to proceed in England if the absence of funding in the local jurisdiction can be demonstrated
• The authors' conclusion: The Lloyd's item said the decision could lead to a flood of similar claims against multinationals. The commenting letter's author concluded that it should ensure access to justice in practice

Related studies

• Cape Plc: South African mineworkers' quest for justice — R. Meeran (2003)
• The James Hardie story: asbestos victims' claims evaded by manufacturer — B. Hills (2005)
• The mortality of amphibole miners in South Africa, 1946-80 — G.K. Sluis-Cremer, F.D. Liddell, et al. (1992)
• Excess mortality from stomach cancer, lung cancer, and asbestosis and/or mesothelioma in crocidolite mining districts in South Africa — J.L. Botha, L.M. Irwig, et al. (1986)
• Asbestosis in South Africa--certain geographical and environmental considerations — G.K. Sluis-Cremer (1965)
• Case-control study of mesothelioma in South Africa — D. Rees, J.E. Myers, et al. (1999)

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