| Puzzling actions surround Hardie asbestos debacle
WINSTON Churchill described Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, which can also be applied to the developing debacle around the latest attempt to coax money from James Hardie for the victims of asbestos poisoning. The riddle is the Australian Tax Office's ruling that the new entity set up by James Hardie working title: Special Purpose Fund is not a charity, thereby threatening the December deal to keep money flowing to asbestos victims. The mystery is why this fund had to be set up. Why not use the existing charity, the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, which has been channelling compensation to James Hardie's victims? And the enigma is: why do investors think James Hardie's liability to its victims has been capped and are optimistically bidding up its share price? It has not been capped; the liability each year is limited to 35 per cent of cash flow, but the time for paying it is open-ended, and on one assessment the potential future claims are equal to the company's entire intrinsic value.
Details announced of improvements to mesothelioma compensation system
John Hutton today gave details of how the system for compensating sufferers of mesothelioma, the debilitating form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, would be improved and speeded up. After working with key stakeholders, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said interim measures to speed up current claims would be put into action and he was determined to put in place a long-term solution. "I am committed to ensuring sufferers of this awful disease, which progresses so rapidly from the time of diagnosis, will get compensation before they die," said Mr Hutton. "There are a series of measures we will put into action straight away, such as clarifying with claims handlers best practice to ensure priority is given to those with mesothelioma.
Victims free to sue decades later
VICTIMS of childhood sexual assault, medical negligence and workplace accidents could now sue for damages decades after the event, following a landmark High Court decision that will force former ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark to defend claims he led the 1971 pack-rape of a 16-year-old girl. Carol Stingel was "over the moon" yesterday with the court judgment clearing the way for her to sue the Aboriginal leader despite 35 years passing since the alleged attack. It will be the first time Mr Clark has had to respond to the rape allegations, as no criminal case was ever mounted and he has waged a constant battle to strike Ms Stingel's claim out of the Victorian courts. The decision significantly expands the number of cases that can now proceed even if the legal time limits for taking court action have expired.
(AFX UK Focus) 2006-07-27 16:57 GMT: Jury awards shipyard worker's widow $10M
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AFX) - A jury awarded $10.4 million to the widow of a former shipyard worker who died of lung cancer after four years of working with materials that contained asbestos. The Newport News Circuit Court verdict in Wanda Jones' wrongful death lawsuit against three companies that manufactured the materials was handed down Wednesday, the first anniversary of the death of 60-year-old Buddy Jones. "It's a mixed day," Wanda Jones said. "At least there's been some justice and recognition for what he went through, certainly through no fault of his own. He just went to work and did what he was trained to do on the job." Her attorney, Robert Hatten, called the verdict a landmark because one-third of the judgment will come from John Crane Inc., which has refused to settle other asbestos cases.
Economist helped poor buy homes
MANHASSET, N.Y. - Louis Winnick, an economist who helped guide the investments of the Ford Foundation and promoted low-income home ownership, has died. He was 85. Winnick died Saturday at a hospice in Manhasset, on Long Island. The cause of death was mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer that his daughter Pamela Winnick attributed to exposure to asbestos when he worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II. Winnick worked for the New York City Planning Commission and the Housing and Redevelopment Board before joining the Ford Foundation in 1962. He served as deputy vice president in the national affairs division from 1968 to 1986. Winnick played a major role in the foundation's effort to channel resources into housing, community renewal and minority enterprise following the turbulence of the late 1960s.
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