Mesothelioma sufferer receives compensation from his former employer Beaver Engineering

Our client, Mike Mannion, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma, received compensation from his former employer, Beaver Engineering, a firm he had worked for from 1964 until 1985.  He started as an apprentice pipe fitter at the age of 15 and remained with the firm as a pipe fitter.  He removed asbestos lagging from pipes and boilers and worked in places where other employees, both of Beavers and other firms, were lagging pipes and boilers with asbestos.

Mike was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2008.  It came as a terrible shock to him. At the time he was working as a caretaker for the Royal School for the Deaf, the only other job he had ever had.  He was committed to his work at the school.  He worked above and beyond the call of duty.  He lived at the school and was on hand whenever he was needed.  His wife, Ethel had also worked at the school prior to her retirement. Until his illness he had intended to work until his retirement at the age of 65.  He was forced to give up work as a result of his illness. 

Beaver Engineering was a partnership between 3 partners, which had long since gone out of business.  We managed to trace two of the elderly partners of the firm from the time Mike worked there but unfortunately they did not know who their insurers were.   There was a complex history and it was unclear who the partners had sold their business too and it therefore became crucial to trace their employers liability insurers if Mike was to receive any damages.  We traced the companies accountants and wrote letters to all those who we could trace who had been involved with the firm.  After extensive searches, we managed to trace the insurers who admitted that Mike’s employers were at fault when they exposed him to asbestos. 

Mike’s claim was settled for a 6 figure sum within 8 months of John Pickering’s being instructed, despite the problems we faced in finding an insurer to pay. He was able to use some of this money to make adaptations to his home, which will hopefully enable him to stay there during his illness.

Mr Mannion said of the case “Thank you for all your hard work.  It was fantastic to get the good news about my claim.  We cannot thank you enough.  The cheque will make all the difference in the world.”

Helen Wilson
John Pickering and Partners LLP
Old Exchange Building
St Ann's Passage
29/31 King Street
Manchester, M2 6BE
Telephone 0161 834 1251
Fax 0161 834 1505. 
E-mail hw@johnpickering.co.uk.

Notes

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs.  It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors
We are a specialist personal injury law firm.  We have been handling claims for industrial disease for over 30 years.  Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims.  We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers.  We have an ethical approach and pledge to donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  Click here to find out about our donations to good causes.  We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law.  Find out more about us or find out about our reported cases.

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John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life."   Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important reform.

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