A man was awarded 3 million dollars in compensation for being exposed to asbestos during work and eventually contracting asbestos related cancer.

80 year old Ervan Groves contracted cancer after working with a company undergoing construction in their building. Ervan Groves and his wife believed that the company during contracting work in the building of the company that Ervan Groves worked for was routinely exposing him to asbestos. After coming to this conclusion, they decided to sue D.W Nicholson, the company that was doing construction on the building for Masonite Corp. while Ervan Groves worked there.

Exposure to asbestos is a great concern for many workers, although its most common among trade workers and construction workers. This is because asbestos is most commonly used in building projects and making parts for mechanics. Builders and contractors come into contact with asbestos from floors, roofs, ceilings, and more. All of these materials are usually common in older buildings, as they are not allowed to be used today. Mechanics usually come into contact with asbestos through the use of old or foreign car parts including brake pads and linings, clutch facings, gaskets, and boiler seals.

Ervan Groves did not come into contact with asbestos from working directly in building, construction, or contracting. Although Masonite Corp. does handle manufacturing, Groves would not have been exposed directly from the product they are manufacturing because they did not use asbestos. However, there was found to be asbestos used in the products from D.W. Nicholson. According to Grove’s lawyers, D.W. Nicholson installed many different components into the building across the time that Groves worked there. This included mechanical, electrical and piping equipment.

    D.W. Nicholson also failed to inform the people working at Masonite Corp. that they were potentially being exposed to asbestos. Along with failure to inform workers of the asbestos, they also failed to clean up the leftover asbestos.

The court found D.W Nicholson guilty, and Ervan Groves was awarded 3 million dollars.