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can you actually sue your employer for asbestos exposure or is that door closed

Family · · 70 views
So Joe's lawyer brought this up last month when we were going over the claim stuff and honestly I had no idea how complicated it gets. Like, I taught for 35 years in the same school building and I always figured if something happened because of your job, you just sue, right? Wrong.

Turns out it's way messier than that. From what I understand, you can't always just go after your employer directly because of workers comp laws. That's the thing that keeps catching people off guard. Workers comp is supposed to be this trade off where you give up the right to sue your employer in exchange for guaranteed benefits, even if it wasn't technically their fault.

But here's where it gets interesting and why Joe's lawyer is actually pursuing things. You can sometimes go after the companies that MADE the asbestos products, or the suppliers, or contractors who knew about it and didn't tell anyone. Those aren't your employer so the workers comp shield doesn't protect them. And depending on when Joe was exposed and what state we're in, there might be other angles too.

The timing matters crazy amounts. I'm talking like which decade you got exposed and what laws existed then. Our lawyer said if Joe had gotten sick ten years earlier in a different state, the whole thing would've looked different.

What was your exposure situation like? Are you thinking about going after your old employer directly or did your lawyer mention other companies involved?

12 Replies

Patient
Yeah man, this is exactly what we ran into. I was exposed for like 30 years doing brake work, so I figured I had a slam dunk case against the shop. Nope. My lawyer explained the workers comp thing same way yours did and I was kinda mad about it at first, you know? Like I followed the rules, clocked in, did my job, and now I can't even sue the guy who owned the place.

But what actually helped us was going after the brake pad manufacturers. Those guys knew asbestos was in there way back in the 70s and 80s, I mean we all kinda knew it was bad stuff even then but they kept using it anyway because it was cheap. That's where the real liability sits. We also looked at the tool suppliers and the shop that sold us the pads without any warnings.

The timing thing is real too. I got diagnosed in December 2025 after all those years not working, which actually helped because Michigan's got certain protections for older exposures. If this had happened five years ago the window might've been different.

Your lawyer's the one who knows your specific situation though. Mine kept asking me exactly where I worked, what decade, who supplied what, all that stuff. Sounds like Joe's got someone who's digging into it right which is good.
Family
Oh man, thirty years of brake work... that's a long exposure window and yeah, I bet those manufacturers knew way more than they let on back then. That's actually what gives me a little bit of hope about Joe's situation too, even though the employer thing stings. It's like teaching me that lesson over again but in the worst possible way, you know?

Did your case end up moving forward with the manufacturers, or are you still in that waiting phase?
Veteran
Got my diagnosis back in June after a routine VA screening, had the pleurectomy in August. What I'm seeing now is the timing piece matters even more than people think. I was on the Oriskany from 71 to 91 doing hull work, and the Navy's got its own deal with workers comp. Turns out the government contractors who supplied materials to the ship back then, they're the ones my VA rep said we could potentially move on. Not the Navy itself really, but those suppliers knew what they were selling and when. That's a completely different angle than suing your old employer. The decade you got exposed absolutely matters like you said, but also who SOLD the stuff to your employer. That's the other company in the room nobody talks about at first.
Attorney ✓ Expert Response
What you're describing is exactly right, and honestly your lawyer is doing a good job framing it that way.

The workers comp exclusivity bar is real. In most states it does block direct employer lawsuits, though there are exceptions worth knowing about. Some states carve out claims where the employer had actual knowledge of the hazard and concealed it anyway. California and New Jersey have both seen cases where that exception got traction. So "employer" isn't always a dead end, it depends a lot on the specific facts and which state's law applies.

But the third party route is where most of these cases live. The manufacturers and distributors of asbestos containing products, they don't get that workers comp shield. And in a school setting there's a whole other layer, the companies that installed floor tiles, ceiling panels, pipe insulation... sometimes there were dozens of them in a single building. I worked a case years ago where we identified 23 separate product defendants from one school district's maintenance records going back to the 1960s.

The timing piece your lawyer mentioned is genuinely significant. Statutes of limitations vary by state and they typically run from the date of diagnosis, not exposure, but the rules around that have shifted over the decades.

Whatever you do, get Joe's employment records and any building inspection reports you can find. Those documents from the 70s and 80s can matter more than people expect. And please consult an attorney specifically experienced in asbestos litigation for Joe's specific situation, the jurisdictional differences here are not small.
3 found this helpful
Veteran
Same situation here, Navy exposed me to asbestos back in the 70s on the Oriskany and my VA lawyer said workers comp rules locked that door pretty tight. But they're going after the contractors and suppliers who knew better, that's where the real case is.
Family
Yeah that's exactly what Joe's lawyer explained to us too, except with the school stuff instead of Navy. The contractors and suppliers angle seems to be where all the real leverage is, which honestly surprised me since I kept thinking it'd be straightforward. Did your VA lawyer mention if the Navy itself had any liability issues or is it pretty much just the outside companies they're focusing on? I'm curious how military exposure cases work differently since Joe's is civilian building stuff.
Family
Yeah, this is exactly what our lawyer walked us through too back in November when we started really digging into Joe's case. The workers comp thing was such a shock to me because like you, I figured if something happens at work you just sue the employer and done. That's not how it works at all.

What helped us was that Joe worked for a manufacturing company for 28 years, and they actually brought in contractors who were installing insulation in the 70s and 80s. Those contractors? They knew what they were doing with asbestos products and didn't always tell the guys on the floor. That's where our lawyer found the real meat of the case. We couldn't go directly at Joe's employer because of that workers comp shield, but the contractors and the product manufacturers are fair game.

The timing thing is wild too. Our lawyer literally pulled out calendars showing when certain asbestos regulations changed in Florida and when Joe's exposure window was. It mattered that he got exposed before certain disclosure laws kicked in, because that strengthened some of the negligence angles.

I think the biggest thing we learned is don't assume anything is off the table just because of workers comp. Get a lawyer who actually knows asbestos cases in your state because every situation is different. The laws changed so much over the decades and where you live really does change everything.

Did your lawyer mention any third party companies or was it mostly focused on the employer angle?
Veteran
Yeah that workers comp thing killed us too, but our lawyer went after the asbestos manufacturers instead and that's where the money ended up being. Timing's everything like you said.
Family
That's good to hear that worked out for you guys. Joe's lawyer is doing the same thing, going after the manufacturers and distributors rather than beating a dead horse with the employer angle. Did your case take a long time to settle or were the manufacturers pretty quick to deal once your lawyer got involved?
Veteran
Got the same briefing from the VA lawyers when I was going through my claim back in July. They walked me through it pretty straight. Bottom line is workers comp basically closes that door on your employer, yeah. That's the deal you made when you signed on, even if nobody told you asbestos was tearing through the ship.

But here's what matters. We had exposure on the Oriskany from 71 to 91 and the Navy contractors who installed and maintained all that insulation, they're fair game. Different entity than my employer so the shield doesn't apply. My lawyer said the timing actually worked in my favor because enough documentation exists now from that era showing what those companies knew and when they knew it.

Your teacher friend should be asking his lawyer about the building maintenance contractors, the asbestos abatement companies if they ever did work, the product manufacturers themselves. Those are separate from the school district. The state matters too like your lawyer said. We're in Virginia and our statute of limitations is still open which helped us move fast after my June diagnosis.

I'd push hard on getting the exposure history pinned down exact. Dates, locations, what materials, who was handling them. The more specific you get the easier it is to identify which companies were actually involved. We spent a lot of time with the VA records from my shipboard days and it made a difference in targeting the right defendants.

Sounds like his lawyer is doing the right work going after the product side rather than the employer. That's usually where the real liability sits anyway.
Family
Oh man, the Navy contractors angle is huge. That's exactly what Joe's lawyer kept emphasizing too, like the actual people who knew what they were doing with the materials are the ones who can't hide behind that workers comp umbrella. Twenty years on the Oriskany though, that's a lot of exposure and a lot of documentation hopefully. Did the VA folks give you a sense of how far back they can go with those contractor records, or is that still being sorted out?
Patient
I was at Johns-Manville from 78 to 85 so I'm in that same boat trying to figure out the timeline piece. My diagnosis is recent but the exposure was decades ago, and honestly I haven't even gotten to the point of talking to anyone about suit options yet, just focused on the HIPEC surgery evaluation right now.

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