Payout for Great Wyrley pensioner on asbestos disease
A pensioner from Great Wyrley has received a six-figure compensation sum after developing a fatal asbestos disease linked to his past work.
Eli Richards worked for Rugeley-based bathroom appliance manufacturers Armitage Shanks for 17 years from 1979.
The 79-year-old worked with asbestos sheeting at a factory in Bushbury, Wolverhampton.
He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a former of incurable lung cancer, in December 2011. He has now received £160,000 compensation.
Unite the union supported his claim, which said the toolmaker was never warned about the dangers of asbestos or provided with the correct protective equipment.
Mr Richards had worked for the firm's brass taps factory since 1979 and it was discovered he had been exposed to asbestos when a colleague brought to his attention a red warning sticker on packages of boards they were cutting up.
He has been told his condition is fatal.
Mr Richards said: "I couldn't believe we had been working with asbestos for years but had never been provided with protection." Mr Richards said: "I was a very fit and healthy individual until this.
"I am a lifelong non-smoker and was still swimming and paying table tennis and enjoying holidays abroad. I was playing five-a-side football into my 60s. Now I have lung cancer of the worst order – there is no cure." After his diagnosis, Mr Richards contacted the union and Thompsons Solicitors was called in to investigate. Armitage Shanks did not dispute the case.
Mick Stevens, from Unite, said: "The legacy of employers' disregard for health and safety will have long reaching affects for our members who develop asbestos related disease as a result negligence."
