N.J. Appellate Court Upholds Denial of Workers’ Comp Benefits in Benzene Exposure Case

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court has upheld dismissal of a workers’ compensation claim against E.I. DuPont de Nemours, finding the petitioner failed to establish that her late husband’s multiple myeloma was caused by his exposure to benzene during his employment as a lab technician.

In an Oct. 10 opinion, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court agreed with a workers’ compensation judge that the decedent was not exposed to benzene on a long-term basis.

Gerald Hallquist worked as a laboratory technician for DuPont from 1968 until he retired in 1998. Between 1977 and 1982, …