Special Workers' Compensation Scheme for Asbestosis Is Constitutional, N.C. Court Rules

RALEIGH, N.C. - The special provisions of the occupational disease amendment relating to asbestosis and silicosis enacted by the North Carolina legislature do not violate the equal protection clause in either the state or the United States Constitution, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has decided. Jones v. Weyerhaeuser Co., No. 99-742 (N.C. Ct. App.).

The three judge panel said in its opinion Dec. 29 that the classification made by the state's General Assembly that distinguished between asbestosis and silicosis and other occupationally related diseases was rationally related to a legitimate government interest and thus passed equal protection muster under …