Document wga4zzVb7Qj048akyrLB8j0BJ

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1976 DOC CSR059 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Internal Report - W.A. Mesothelioma Case W.A. Mesothelioma Case developed It is known that a young woman mesothelioma in Perth and that aged this 27 years has condition is being related back to her childhood at Wittenoom where her father was working for A.B.A. Limited So far CSR has not received any notice of claim but the matter has been drawn to the attention of Mr Leith in Perth by the W.A. Commissioner of Public Health Dr JC McNulty ys oe ee It was decided to seek a legal opinion as to the Company's position in this case and in possible future cases Our Sydney solicitors Sly and Russell sought the advice of Messrs Robinson Cox and Co. who are CSR's solicitors in Perth To summarise solicitors and Sly and the advice Russell given by both the W.A. 1 CSR Limited itself has no legal liability at all 2 Midalco Pty Ltd. which was formerly A.B.A. Limited and which is a wholly owned subsidiary of CSR Limited has a somewhat different legal position as follows se mere comm a It is possible that the claim would be statute barred due to the lapse of six years from the cause of action However the date upon which the cause of action arose would not be easy to determine or identify It depends on when the disease started to manifest itself and not necessarily on the date of inhalation of the dust or her death b Midalco could argue that there no breach of . the duty of care because we did not know at the time that theseconsequences were likely to result from the inhalation of dust This line of defence would be stronger in relation to inhalation of the dust paper in prior to the publication of Dr 1960 which clearly established Wagner's the connection between inhalation of asbestos fibres and mesothelioma Once this paper was published an applicant has a much better argument that the Company should have known the consequences of inhalation of dust and that therefore the duty of care was clear thathat t CSR Apart from may wish to the above legal situation it is possible make a payment in the event of there being BN Jha me formal claim either from the woman concerned or from ner husband following her death Such a payment could be made basis without admission of liability and this on an ex gratia similar future claim would not affect our position in any The letter accompanying such a payment would need to be carefully worded and should be drafted by our solicitors Recommendation As the legal position has now been clarified it is suggested that is made on the we shoulddo nothing until of claim Company and that we should then simply consider whether an ex gratia payment should be made Lung Cancer Death Advice was recently received from Perth of the death from lung cancer of a former employee of A.B.A. Limited This ( carcinoma on 27 man Mr Wielinga worked at A.B.A. from July 1955 to January His deatMah rch 1975 1959 ha els d toleb adeindgue to carcinoma of the lung due to asbestosili- was This is different to mesothelioma which is cancer of cosis the pleura The claim resulting from this man's death will be heard before the Workers Compensation Board on The claim will be dealt with by the W.A. State 19 May 1976 Government Insurance Office who were A.B.A. Limited's insurers oo se N E Irving 3 3 16 Feb 76