PROPOSED LEGISLATION
In 2003, Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah) introduced a bill (S. 1125) to the US Senate entitled the "Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003 (FAIR Act of 2003)." This bill is an attempt to limit compensation to victims of asbestos-related injuries, limit litigation against defendant companies and limit the amount of money those defendant companies will be forced to pay for causing asbestos-related injuries to their workers and consumers.
What the sponsors of the bill do not tell you is that, if enacted, the FAIR Act of 2003 would benefit the large corporations, not the victims with asbestos-related injuries. The proposed law would be a financial windfall for large corporations currently facing billions of dollars in liability. For example, Halliburton would only have to pay $25 million per year into the asbestos fund when it is currently facing a $4.2 billion settlement–that is a profit of $3.6 billion for the company who claims they are on the verge of bankruptcy. Under the proposed law, a victim suffering from mesothelioma would receive 5-10% of what they might receive in a court and over 75% of the people injured by asbestos exposure would receive nothing under the FAIR Act.