In a decision that may alter the landscape of Pennsylvania products liability and workers’ compensation cases, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that former employees who develop a latent occupational disease many years after ending their employment can bring common law tort claims against their former employers.
The court’s decision in Tooey v. AK Steel and Landis v. A.W. Chesterton, 81 A.3d 851 (Pa. 2013), has broad implications for employers that use or have used toxic chemicals in the workplace. Such employers are now subject to potential lawsuits by employees who later develop occupational diseases—claims that previously were generally barred by the Workers’ Compensation Act. This is a sea change in how Pennsylvania law has historically addressed civil claims for occupational exposure. Legal practitioners should expect to prepare new and different litigation strategies to address the change in applicability of the act’s bar against civil claims.
Workers’ Compensation Act
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