News Coverage
Family members of asbestos victims lobby against settlement fund
Published March 25, 2004
WASHINGTON - Two Wisconsin women whose husbands have asbestos-related cancer came to Capitol Hill Thursday, lobbying against legislation that would establish a settlement fund to shield companies from further asbestos lawsuits.
Wendy Stoeckler of Fort Atkinson and Kathy Marshall of Waukesha were among dozens of people from around the country in town to urge their lawmakers to oppose the bill.
The legislation would set up a trust fund of $114 billion to compensate victims of asbestos, which causes cancer and other illnesses. The fund would be paid for by corporations that used asbestos and their insurance companies.
The use of asbestos has fallen sharply since the 1970s, after it was linked to cancer. The heat-resistant material is found in insulation, roofing tiles and brakes.
"I believe that everybody who is losing their life should have their day in court," said Stoeckler, whose husband, Chris Stoeckler, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a fatal lung cancer, on Dec. 31, 2001, after years of working as a brake mechanic.
She also expressed concern that the fund would not provide enough money to pay all victims and could derail her family's pending settlement, which she declined to discuss. Stoeckler, 40, said her 41-year-old husband is deteriorating rapidly.
Marshall, 55, said her family had received money to compensate her husband, Keith Marshall, 47, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma on March 13, 2002.
Because of the settlement, which Marshall said she was not allowed to discuss, the bill won't affect her family directly. But she said she was philosophically opposed to taking away other victims' right to sue.
Marshall said her husband likely was exposed to asbestos from his father, who worked around asbestos as an engineer, and from working at a plant as an adult. Marshall said her husband is "doing quite well ... There's always hope."
Marshall's trip was paid for by her law firm, the Lanier Firm of Houston. Stoeckler said she didn't know who paid for her trip. The media availability where the women spoke was held by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
The women met with Wisconsin Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, both Democrats. Kohl said he opposed the bill because he didn't think the size of the fund was adequate, but was still hopeful for a compromise. Feingold said he opposed it because it "fell short of a consensus piece of legislation that is fair to all parties."
A recent study by the Environmental Working Group found Wisconsin ranks 16th in the United States in deaths from asbestos-related diseases. At least 716 Wisconsin residents have died from asbestos exposure since 1979, the report said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents businesses, supports the legislation. Lisa Rickard, president of the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform, said the law would provide the necessary money to compensate victims.
She said awards would range from $1 million to those suffering from mesothelioma, down to $20,000 for people who have a nonmalignant disease, such as asthma, that may or may not have been caused by asbestos exposure.
"What we're doing here is coming up with a system that allows everybody quick access to the system and compensation based on how ill they are," she said, noting courts are clogged with asbestos cases.
The sponsor of the asbestos bill, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, made a push for the bill in a Senate speech earlier this month.
"It has become quite evident to my committee that tens of thousands of true asbestos victims are faced with agonizing pain and suffering with uncertain prospects of a meaningful recovery in our existing tort system," said Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
He said the bill was needed to ensure that sick people get fairly compensated, and to prevent litigation that is leading to a "tidal wave of bankruptcies."