Doug Satterfield is continuing a lawsuit against Alcoa, Inc., originally filed by his daughter, for wrongful third-party exposure to asbestos. The lawsuit claims that Amanda, Satterfield’s daughter, developed mesothelioma after being exposed to toxic asbestos fibers carried home on Satterfield’s clothes; he hauled asbestos for Alcoa, Inc, in the 1970s.
Amanda, who filed the lawsuit in 2003, died from mesothelioma cancer in 2005 at age 25. The original lawsuit was dismissed in Blount County, but was reinstated by the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The court ruled that Alcoa, Inc. should be held accountable for allowing its workers to wear asbestos-contaminated clothing home from the job site.
Father Seeks Compensation
Satterfield, who has taken over the lawsuit, seeks $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
Justice William Koch wrote in the opinion: “In light of the magnitude of the potential harm from exposure to asbestos and the means available to prevent or reduce this harm, we see no reason to prevent carpool members, baby sitters, or the domestic help from pursuing negligence claims against an employer should they develop mesothelioma after being repeatedly and regularly in close contact with an employee’s asbestos-contaminated work clothes over an extended period of time.”