Impact of Smoking History on Workers' Asbestosis Claims Insufficient to Support Reversal of Benefits Awards

RICHMOND, Va. - An expert's calculation of the effect that smoking has on the severity of a former dock worker's asbestosis cannot be used as a basis for denying the claimant access to a disability award, a federal appeals court has ruled. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company v. Herbert E. Winn, et al., No. 00-1815 (4th Cir.).

Deciding the appeals of several similar claims filed under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld an award of benefits to the workers over objections of their employer, who claimed that the …