Early 70s exposure leads to claim against Darchem Engineering Limited
George was employed as an engineer by Darchem Engineering Limited of Stillington, Stockton-On-Tees in the early 1970s.
The company developed vacuum heat treatment processes. George was involved in maintaining a furnace for vacuum heat treatment on a site at their South Eastern subsidiary in Morden, Surrey. The furnace continually broke down and George was involved with other apprentices using asbestos rope, sheets and cloth to cut to size and fit on the furnaces to repair. This created dust on his hands and on his clothes. The exposure to asbestos post-dated the Asbestos Regulations 1969 which virtually outlawed the use of asbestos without proper precautions. George was to go on to a successful career in the motorsport industry.
In late 2019 he began to suffer from a cough, breathlessness and backache. He was referred to a specialist at Warwick Hospital in the West Midlands and was diagnosed with suffering from mesothelioma. George instructed Peter Williams to deal with his case just before lockdown in March 2020. He tragically died shortly afterwards.
Darchem were a company Fieldfisher have sued in the past and their parent company the Darlington Chemical and Insulating Company was especially involved in exposing their employees to asbestos. Insurers were quickly identified from our database and the claim settled before proceedings in the High Court in early November 2020 for £200,000 for his widow Helen. This included a substantial sum to repay the local hospice for the care they provided to George.
This claim shows how quickly we are able to act when there was a known history against an employer we have sued before.
His widow Helen said:
"Although no amount of money can ever compensate for my loss I take some comfort that with your expertise and my husband’s amazing memory, Darchem have been held accountable for taking away what remained of our future together. He was without a doubt the love of my life and I face a difficult future without him but you have given me the financial security I know he would have been very grateful for, as am I.”
Contact us
For further information about mesothelioma claims, please call Peter Williams on 03304606805 or email peter.williams@fieldfisher.com.
Alternatively
- You can speak to our asbestos disease lawyers on freephone 0800 358 3848
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