A Trust Fund Victims Can't Trust
Margarito Martinez’s story
Baldwin Park, California. Margarito is a retired plasterer. He was exposed to asbestos at his various job sites, day in and day out. He has not been diagnosed with any kind of asbestos-related disease, but his wife, Rebecca, has.
Rebecca cleaned Margarito’s chalky, asbestos-covered work clothes every day after he came home from work. She shook the asbestos dust from his clothes and breathed it in while she did the laundry. That dust contaminated their entire house. They were never adequately warned about the dangers of asbestos.
Rebecca was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a terminal cancer caused only by asbestos, on July 31, 2002. She was hospitalized on several occasions following her diagnosis because she could not breathe on her own. Rebecca died four months later in the hospital, surrounded by Margarito, their children, grandchildren, and close friends.
Margarito and Rebecca regularly enjoyed fishing and taking trips to the park together. In addition to raising their three children, they raised two of their granddaughters and a niece, whose parents were killed in an auto accident.
Margarito recalls that he wanted to date Rebecca because she was a “beautiful and good woman.” They were married for 39 years.
How would the asbestos bailout bill hurt Margarito’s family?
Margarito has a pending wrongful death suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. If the proposed asbestos bill is enacted, the Martinez family would never have its day in court. They would be forced to start the claims process from scratch under the proposed asbestos trust fund.
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