Supreme Court rules in favour of asbestos victims

"Fairchild exception" held to apply also in single defendant cases

 

The rule in Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2002] UKHL 22, which provides that defendants whose breaches of their duty of care "materially increase the risk" of mesothelioma are jointly and severally liable for the damage suffered if mesothelioma does in fact develop, has been held to apply equally in single defendant cases. The claimant does not have to comply with the usual requirement that he must show that it is more likely than not that the harm he has suffered has been caused by the defendant’s breach.  This is in order to reflect the fact that medical science cannot presently determine which asbestos fibre or fibres has caused the mesothelioma to develop, often decades later.

The Supreme Court rejected the submissions by the defendants that, in such cases, liability could only be stablished if a claimant could prove on the balance of probability that the mesothelioma was caused by the defendant’s exposure ie that such exposure had at least doubled the risk of the victim developing mesothelioma.

See Sienkiewicz (Administratrix of the Estate of Enid Costello) (Respondent) v Greif (UK) Limited (Appellant);
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (Appellant) v Willmore (Respondent) [2011] UKSC 10

Date Added: 19th March 2011