Shipyard Worker Settles First Manganese Lawsuit of its Kind
October 3 , 2005
The first manganese lawsuit of 6,000 filed with the federal government on behalf of injured workers was settled this week just before the case was scheduled to go to trial. This manganese welding lawsuit was filed on behalf of 38-year-old Charles Ruth, a Mississippi welder working at the Ingalls Shipyard since 1997. Two years after starting this job, Mr. Ruth began developing physical problems including shakes, speech problems, and difficulty with balance. These neurological problems, argue Ruth, were caused by manganese exposure from welding rods.
This welding-manganese exposure lawsuit was filed against two manufacturers of welding products: Hobart Brothers Co. of Ohio and ESAB Group Inc. of England. The defendants and the plaintiff agreed to settle this manganese case. While the settlement size was undisclosed, the figure is estimated to exceed one million dollars. Ruth's attorneys were prepared to take the case to trial with evidence that welding fumes caused Ruth's illness- a diagnosis made in 2000 by doctors at Houston's Baylor Medical Center.
Though this manganese case settled out of court, legal experts believe that it will actually be beneficial for the plaintiffs of other manganese lawsuits. “He was exposed to the kind of fume all other welder's were exposed to, but for an even shorter period of time than a lot of others,” says one of the plaintiff's attorneys. The settlement does not prevent any other welding cases from going to trial. The essential legal question involved in these welding cases- Do welding fumes cause manganese poisoning and Parkinson's disease?- is still open for juries to consider in subsequent cases.
The manufacturers of welding products remain firm in their argument that welding rod fumes do not cause neurological illness. The defendant's lawyers in the Ruth case claim they settled for cost saving reasons, not as an admission of guilt.
Thousands of people who've suffered manganese exposure have developed serious neurological side effects. Many of these victims have filed manganese lawsuits with the US District Court. The court's special master in the welding cases, David Cohen, expects the first manganese legal trial to begin in November.
To learn more about manganese exposure and its various side effects, contact a manganese attorney.
