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Asbestos ruling is a victory for fairness and wake-up call for the government - ATL
11 March 2011
The Supreme Court ruling this week (March 9), that the family of a former Merseyside pupil was eligible for compensation following exposure to asbestos at school which subsequently killed her, is a victory for fairness and a wake-up call for the government, says the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).
The Supreme Court agreed unanimously that the family of Dianne Willmore can keep the £240,000 compensation awarded to her by Liverpool High Court in July 2009. Dianne Willmore contracted the asbestos cancer mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos when a pupil at Bowring Comprehensive School in Huyton, Merseyside, in the 1970s and died in October 2009 aged 49. Knowsley Council appealed against Liverpool High Court's judgement to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the High Court ruling, and then took the case to the Supreme Court.
The seven judges at the Supreme Court ruled that anyone who contracts an asbestos-related illness after even a slight exposure to asbestos will be eligible for compensation if their school or college has been negligent.
ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: "We are delighted that the Supreme Court has ruled that Mrs Willmore's family can keep the compensation they were awarded. We are particularly pleased the Court ruled that even those exposed to low levels of asbestos are eligible for compensation if they become ill as a result.
"Over 500 ATL members know they have been exposed to asbestos at school and risk developing an asbestos-related illness, and thousands more are unaware that they have been exposed. Asbestos remains present in thousands of schools in the UK - estimates suggest 75 per cent - and continues to pose a significant risk to teachers and pupils alike. Health and Safety Executive figures show that at least 182 people working in education died of mesothelioma between 1980 and 2000.
"We have been urging the government to take action. When he was Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered education ministers to carry out a survey of asbestos in UK schools. Regrettably the current government seems reluctant to take action, preferring to save money in the short-term rather than protect lives. We hope the Supreme Court ruling is a wake up call to the government to take its head out of the sand and act before any more pupils or teachers die needlessly from exposure to asbestos."
Notes to editors
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.
ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.
ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.