West Virginia College Responds to Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit
Donna Spurling filed a negligence lawsuit against West Virginia’s Fairmont State University after being diagnosed with lung cancer she blamed on asbestos exposure suffered on the school property. Several months later, the school submitted a response defending itself. The academic institution asserted that sovereign immunity protects it from personal injury lawsuits involving insurance claims due to its status as a state entity. At the same time, it attempted to shift responsibility to other parties who might have been responsible for the woman’s asbestos exposure, including West Virginia state authorities.
School’s Inconsistent Response Noted by Asbestos Lung Cancer Victim’s Representative
The asbestos lung cancer litigation took a new turn on January 9th when the school submitted what lawyers call a notice of non-parties wholly or partially at fault. This is a type of legal document that attempts to shift the blame to entities beyond the named defendants that could be responsible for the plaintiff’s condition. The school’s notice of non-parties identifies 143 separate organizations whose products Ms. Spurling might have encountered through occupational exposure or when she served with the U.S. military, including broad references to different types of equipment or insulation that may have been present in those locations.
The attorneys representing Ms. Spurling responded to the filing by highlighting how contradictory the school’s position was: At the same time that the university argued that it had a protected government status and pointed to state authorities as bearing responsibility for her asbestos-related illness, they also submitted a voluminous, comprehensive list of other potentially responsible parties.
University Seeks State Protection Against Asbestos Lung Cancer Liability While Also Blaming State
Asbestos exposure cases often involve complex liability questions, and Fairmont State University’s filing specifically references a 1986 legal action that resulted in West Virginia’s state government setting aside $20 million for asbestos cleanup at government-owned properties. The university argues that all parties and non-parties connected to that earlier case bear full or partial responsibility for the asbestos contamination that remained at the facility and allegedly caused Ms. Spurling’s disease.
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