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Radiation litigation and Judges Opinions
The following was posted today on Powernet. It points out the
misinformation, and, arrogance of some within the legal profession. Pay
close attention to the dissenting opinion of one of the appelate judges
hearing the case:
July 10, 1998
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register
Victory has eluded Linda McLandrich in her quest
to bring to court those she feels killed her
husband with radiation contamination at the San
Onofre nuclear power plant.
But a recent court decision ? which she lost ?
has provided her with new inspiration to go
forward.
An appellate judge said in a dissenting opinion
that Southern California Edison, operator of the
plant, could be blamed for such a death.
"In fact, the deliberate use by Southern
California Edison of monitoring devices which
under-recorded the true amount of radiation and
the deaths of employees caused by radiation rise
not only to a valid civil suit for damages but
also to a possible criminal prosecution for
homicide," wrote U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Judge Warren J. Ferguson in his May 28 dissent.
The two other justices said Edison's conduct
should be evaluated under the workers' comp
system.
The majority opinion resulted in Southern
California Edison being dropped as a defendant
in McLandrich's lawsuit and that part of the
case being relegated to the workers'
compensation board. Nevertheless, two other
defendants remain in the lawsuit, and Linda
McLandrich said Ferguson's words prove she is
not alone in her belief.
"I've fought hard for accountability and justice
for the death of my husband," the Mission Viejo
mother of two said. "When we got the dissent, it
showed here is a judge who agrees."
Linda McLandrich is seeking damages on behalf of
her two children, Cheryl, 11 and Paul, 5. The
damages are above the undisclosed sum received
from a prior workers' compensation settlement in
the case.
Gregory McLandrich worked as a nuclear engineer
at San Onofre for 17 years. He died of abdominal
cancer in 1991.
His wife contends his death was caused by
exposure to excessive doses of radiation during
a fuel leak in the mid-1980s.
Her lawsuit contends that Edison used improperly
calibrated monitoring devices to falsely lead
workers to believe they were working in safe
conditions.
While Gregory McLandrich's family cannot sue his
employer, two other companies involved in the
San Onofre operation, San Diego Power and Gas
and Combustion Engineering, remain defendants.
Edison has denied any responsibility for the
death of Gregory McLandrich, in whose memory the
company has run a marathon to raise funds for
charity.
"The safety of employees and the general public
is the first priority at the San Onofre Nuclear
Generating Station," Edison officials said in a
prepared statement in response to Ferguson's
opinion. "We have worked hard to safely and
efficiently produce electricity for the past 30
years. During that time, the operation of the
plant has never resulted in an injury or death
to an individual from radiation exposure."
Evidence obtained in preparing the lawsuit shows
that McLandrich and six others who worked in the
plant unknowingly received radiation
contamination, alleges Don Howarth, a Los
Angeles lawyer who represents all the families.
In two of the cases, workers are said to have
unknowingly brought radioactive materials home
and contaminated members of their families.
Howarth said only one case charging that a
nuclear worker has suffered radiation
contamination from unsafe job conditions has
ever been won in court. That case involved Karen
Silkwood, who died in a mysterious automobile
accident while on her way to provide information
against her employer, Kerr McGee, to a newspaper
reporter.
McLandrich said she knew she had an uphill
battle when she was approached shortly after her
husband's death by one of his co-workers.
"He apologized for not coming to the funeral. He
said that attending might have been a conflict
of interest because he had been put on a task
force set up to collect data to fight us if we
filed a lawsuit," McLandrich said.
Edison said two of the seven lawsuits have
resulted in jury verdicts in the company's
favor. Edison experts have challenged the
allegation that radiation contamination caused
the workers' cancers.
"In two additional cases, Southern California
Edison was dismissed as a defendant before it
had the opportunity to expose the inaccuracy of
the claims of plaintiffs' attorneys," the Edison
statement said.
Edison settled one of the seven lawsuits,
brought by the family of a Nuclear Regulatory
Commission inspector, under terms not made
public.
------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306
Fax: (714) 668-3149
sandyfl@earthlink.net
sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205
ICN Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
"The object of opening the mind, as of opening
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
- G. K. Chesterton -
The opinions expressed are solely, absolutely, positively, definitely those of the author, and NOT my employer
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