Jones Act Bars Asbestos-Related Survival and Wrongful Death Actions, Says Delaware Court

NEW CASTLE, Del. - A Delaware Superior court has ruled that a survival claim filed on behalf of a seaman who died of mesothelioma can not move forward when the Jones Act's three-year statute of limitations would have barred the decedent's personal injury claim while he was still alive. Meth, et al. v. A.H. Bull & Co., et al., No. 99C-05-20 ASB (Del. Super. Ct., New Castle Cty.).

The court further ruled that a wrongful death action brought by his representatives is also barred because a condition precedent to the claim under the Jones Act is that the seaman must …