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On March 10, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that six former Norfolk & Western Railway Co. workers suffering from asbestosis are entitled to receive damages from the railroad because they fear they'll contract cancer as a result of their illness. The court heard the case Nov. 6.


Norfolk & Western Railway (now Norfolk Southern Railway) is responsible for all awarded damages under the Federal Employers' Liability Act.


"Given the acknowledgment by Norfolk's expert that asbestosis puts a worker in a heightened risk category for asbestos-related lung cancer, as well as the undisputed testimony of the asbestosis claimants' expert that some 10 percent of asbestosis sufferers have died of mesothelioma, the
claimants would have good cause for increased apprehension about their vulnerability to cancer," wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.


Association of American Railroads officials expressed disappointment with the ruling.


"Justice Kennedy's dissenting opinion points out, 'there is no demonstrated causal link between asbestosis and cancer,' making it difficult to fathom how claimants will meet the burden of proving, as the majority required, that the alleged fear is both 'genuine and serious,'" said AAR President and Chief Executive Officer Edward Hamberger in a prepared statement.


The court failed to close the door on future claimants, "most of whom will never contract cancer," said Hamberger.


"Hopefully, this decision will provide the impetus needed for asbestos litigation reform," he said.