If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an illness associated with exposure to asbestos and can trace your exposure incident back to Yarway Corporation – either as an employee or from a product manufactured by Yarway – you may be eligible for compensation from the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust. Discuss your eligibility and get help with this legal process when you contact Bailey & Glasser, LLP. We offer free case consultations.
How Can Asbestos Exposure Cause Serious Illnesses?
Asbestos is a group of six minerals that are naturally resistant to heat and corrosion. Asbestos was mined heavily in the 1800s and 1900s, making it cheap and easy to obtain. For these reasons, asbestos was a popular additive in a variety of consumer products, especially construction and building materials. Exposure to asbestos was confirmed to cause cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1987. Unfortunately, asbestos had already been used in millions of products by the time it became regulated.
If an individual is exposed to asbestos, microscopic fibers and particles can become lodged in the inner tissues of the body; mainly, the mesothelium, or the thin membrane that surrounds and protects many of the internal organs. If asbestos is inhaled, for example, particles can get stuck in the pleura, or the lining of the lungs. Over time, lodged asbestos particles can cause enough irritation, inflammation and damage to the surrounding area to result in the development of cancer cells.
Cancer of the mesothelium is known as mesothelioma. It is a deadly type of cancer that currently has a life expectancy of 12 to 21 months with treatment, according to data from the National Library of Medicine. Other illnesses associated with exposure to asbestos include asbestosis and lung cancer. Asbestosis is a chronic lung condition that can cause coughing and chest pain. Asbestos lung cancer is cancer that occurs in the lung itself rather than the pleura.
Asbestos-Containing Products Manufactured by Yarway Corp.
The Yarway Corporation is one of hundreds of companies that produced asbestos-containing products and materials that were widely distributed throughout the U.S. for most of the 20th Century. Yarway was founded in 1908 under the name “Simplex Engineering Company,” as a manufacturer of parts and components for power-generation equipment. Asbestos was commonly added to friction products and items that needed to resist heat.
Yarway is responsible for creating the following asbestos products:
- Power plant equipment
- Paper and chemical plant equipment
- Shipbuilding products
- Gaskets
- Valves
- Packing
- Expansion joints
- Pipe-joint clamps
- Steam traps
- Boiler equipment
- Automatic boiler skimmers
- Pressure unloaders
Any worker involved in the manufacture, production, distribution, installation or repair of these Yarway products may have been exposed to asbestos.
What Is the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust?
In 2015, the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was created and funded with $326 million to reimburse victims with asbestos-related illnesses and personal injuries due to exposure to asbestos through the company’s products. An estimated 23,000 claims have already been filed with the trust. To ensure the trust fund continues to pay future victims of Yarway’s asbestos products, it currently uses a payment percentage of 25 percent. This means claims are paid at 25 percent of their value. This percentage is subject to periodic reviews and changes by the Yarway Trust.
Who Is Eligible for Compensation From the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust?
Anyone who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related illness who can trace the exposure incident back to Yarway Corp. may qualify for compensation from the trust. This includes workers who worked directly with asbestos-containing products at their jobsites. In 2017, Yarway Trust published a list of all approved jobsites where asbestos exposure incidents were known to have occurred.
The jobsite exposure list currently contains 477 sites, including:
- Air Force bases
- Electric plants
- Marine Corps bases
- Naval air stations
- Naval shipyards
- Nuclear stations and plants
- Shipbuilding stations
- Steam stations
- U.S. Forts
- U.S. ships and water vessels
- Veterans Affairs Medical Centers
The majority of sites listed are United States ships (USS) commissioned by the Navy. The sites date as far back as 1930 (the University of Chicago Power Plant in Illinois). The Yarway Trust requires supporting documentation that a claimant worked at an approved site if he or she is claiming to have been exposed to asbestos on the job.
Presumptive Occupations of the Yarway Trust
In addition, Yarway has named certain presumptive occupations in numerous industries that are considered acceptable for the purposes of a trust fund claim, without needing further detail as to the worker’s use of a Yarway asbestos-containing product.
These occupations include:
- Boiler worker
- Coppersmith
- Electrician
- Engine room worker
- HVAC worker
- Machinist
- Maintenance mechanic
- Millwright
- Pipefitter
- Plumber
- Sheet metal worker
- Shipyard trades
- Steamfitter
A successful Yarway trust fund claim filed by any of these individuals could result in a payment being made to the claimant or claimant’s family for losses related to asbestos exposure. This may include medical bills, lost wages, disability, pain and suffering, and out-of-pocket expenses.
How to File a Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust Fund Claim
To file a claim with this trust fund, you will need to complete the required Claim Form and submit it with the required documentation. This trust requires documents and records proving the eligibility requirements, such as a medical diagnosis for an asbestos-related disease and employment records documenting the exposure date and location.
There are two different types of trust claim review processes: Expedited and Individual. The Expedited is faster and will result in a quicker payment. The Individual is a longer and more detailed review. Both have pros and cons that you should discuss with an attorney before choosing which one is right for you.
Contact Us for Assistance
To find out if you are eligible to file a claim with the Yarway Trust, bring your case to an experienced attorney at Bailey & Glasser, LLP. We will conduct a thorough review of your specific situation, including medical documentation and asbestos exposure history, to let you know if we believe your claim has merit. If so, we can help you with the trust fund claims process.
It may also be possible to seek financial compensation through other legal actions, such as a mesothelioma lawsuit or a workers’ compensation claim. Our attorneys will explore these legal options with you to help ensure the maximum financial recovery for you and your family for asbestos exposure. Call (866) 871-7971 or contact us online today to request your free case evaluation.
