Asbestos Premises Liability Lawsuits
Clarence Borel was the first person to successfully sue the asbestos industry for mesothelioma. His 1973 case, Borel v. Fibreboard, established that manufacturers could be held liable for failing to warn workers about the dangers of their products. It opened the door for every asbestos lawsuit that followed.
But when Borel filed his case in 1969, the law only allowed him to go after one type of defendant: the manufacturers who made the insulation products he worked with. He couldn't sue the property owners who controlled the places where he actually got sick, such as Texaco in Port Arthur, Mobil in Beaumont, Jefferson Chemical in Port Neches.
Those refineries and chemical plants decided what safety measures to implement, what warnings to post, what protective equipment to provide. They provided none of it. At the time, Borel couldn't hold them accountable. Today, he could.
That's because in the decades since Borel, courts have recognized that property owners also have a duty to protect the people who work on their premises. If a refinery or shipyard or chemical plant knew about asbestos hazards and failed to warn or protect workers, they can be held liable for the harm that followed.
These are called premises liability claims. They've provided compensation for thousands of workers, contractors, and visitors who were exposed not just to dangerous products, but in dangerous places controlled by companies that knew better and did nothing.
Read Clarence Borel's full story.
What Is Premises Liability?
Premises liability is simple in concept: property owners have a duty to keep people safe. If they know there's a dangerous condition on their property (like asbestos) and fail to warn people or take reasonable steps to protect them, they can be held liable for the harm that results.
In asbestos cases, these lawsuits typically target refineries, chemical plants, shipyards, power plants, and factories, but can be filed against any company that allowed a person to be exposed to asbestos on their premises. Many companies continued using asbestos long after its dangers were well documented, never warning the workers, contractors, and visitors who passed through their gates.
The key distinction from product liability is who you're suing. Product liability targets the companies that made asbestos products. Premises liability targets the companies that controlled the environment where exposure happened. Today, asbestos law doesn't just ask who made the product. It asks who let it happen.
What You Have to Prove
To win a premises liability case, you generally have to prove four things: duty, breach, causation, and harm.
Duty of Care. If you're invited onto someone's property—whether as a worker, contractor, or visitor—the property owner owes you a duty to keep the space reasonably safe or warn you of hidden dangers. A refinery that brings in outside contractors for a shutdown knows those workers will be handling pipe insulation. If that insulation contains asbestos, management has a duty to tell them and take steps to protect them.
Breach of Duty. The question then becomes whether the property owner met that duty. In asbestos cases, failure looks like silence: no warnings posted, no respirators provided, no safety training offered. This can lead to exposure when workers rip out pipe coverings without any idea they're releasing deadly fibers into the air.
Causation. You have to connect the exposure to the illness. Years or decades later, one of those workers develops mesothelioma. Medical experts review his work history and link the disease to time spent at that facility, where asbestos was disturbed and no protections were in place. The experts must conclude that the worker's exposure on that property was a substantial contributing factor to his illness.
Harm. Finally, you have to show the real-world consequences of that exposure: enormous medical bills, inability to work, physical and emotional suffering, and the family's decline as a result.
The key is showing the property owner knew about the danger, failed to act, and that failure led to life-altering consequences.
Who Can File?
Contractors and Subcontractors. These are the most common plaintiffs in asbestos premises cases. If you worked at a facility but weren't employed by the property owner, you can typically sue the owner directly. Workers' compensation protects employers from lawsuits by their own employees but it doesn't shield property owners from claims by outside contractors.
Vendors, Visitors, and Invitees. The law calls people who are invited onto the property for the owner's benefit "invitees," and they can include delivery drivers, inspectors, sales representatives, maintenance crews, and contractors. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care, including warning them about known hazards like asbestos.
Licensees and Trespassers. Licensees are people allowed on the property for their own purposes, like social guests, and they are owed a lesser duty than invitees. However, owners must still warn them of known dangers. Even trespassers may have claims in limited circumstances if the property owner knew about a serious hazard and did nothing to address it.
Family Members (Take-Home Exposure). Some states allow family members to sue property owners when asbestos came home on a worker's clothes. Clarence Borel's daughters remember shaking the dust from his work clothes in the garage before washing them. "It was like snow," they recalled. Four of his six children later developed asbestosis from that secondary exposure. In states that recognize take-home claims, they could sue the refineries where their father worked.
Learn More About Secondary Exposure
Surviving Family (Wrongful Death). When someone dies from asbestos exposure that occurred on another's property, surviving spouses and children can file wrongful death claims against the property owner.
Because these rules vary by state, working with attorneys who understand the laws in your jurisdiction is critical.
See how the laws work in your state.
Why These Lawsuits Matter
Premises liability lawsuits do more than compensate victims. They expose patterns of deliberate negligence that would otherwise stay buried.
In some of the most disturbing cases, large corporations purposely outsourced the risk. Rather than expose their own employees to asbestos, they hired outside contractors to do the dangerous work because those people were viewed as expendable. By the 1940s, internal memos, insurance bulletins, and medical journals were all documenting the link between asbestos and fatal disease. Refinery owners and plant managers had access to the same information as the manufacturers. They knew what was in their facilities. They knew workers were breathing it. They said nothing.
What Compensation Is Available?
Economic Damages cover measurable costs like medical bills, lost wages, and expenses related to treatment.
Noneconomic Damages address the human toll of diseases like mesothelioma, including the pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium they bring.
Punitive Damages are awarded when a property owner's conduct was outrageous, like when they deliberately concealed known dangers to save money.
Wrongful Death Damages address what the family lost when their loved one passed, such as funeral expenses, lost income, and the profound emotional toll of watching someone you love die from a preventable disease.
Damages vary by state. Some cap certain categories; others don't.
See how the laws work in your state.
How Premises Liability Works with Other Claims
Premises liability is one piece of a larger compensation strategy. Most asbestos victims have multiple types of claims, each targeting a different responsible party.
Premises liability targets the property owners who controlled the environment where exposure happened, such as refineries, shipyards, and chemical plants that failed to warn or protect workers.
Product liability targets companies who made, sold, or installed the asbestos products used on those properties. If the manufacturer is still solvent, you can sue them directly.
Learn about product liability claims.
Trust claims target manufacturers that have filed for bankruptcy. More than 60 asbestos companies have established trusts to compensate victims. Those trusts only exist because Clarence Borel's case triggered the wave of litigation that eventually forced accountability.
Workers' compensation may apply if you were employed directly by the property owner. This typically limits your ability to sue them, but it doesn't prevent claims against other parties. And if you were a contractor (like Borel was) you are not prohibited from suing the property owner.
For a detailed example of how these claims work together, see our page on Clarence Borel: We walk through exactly what would happen if someone with his exposure history contacted us today.
See how all the claims fit together.
Take the First Step
Premises liability claims have strict deadlines. Every state sets its own statute of limitations, and the clock may start running from the date of diagnosis, or even earlier. Once that deadline passes, your family may lose the right to file, no matter how strong the case.
"I know what it means to miss that window. I lost my father and two grandparents to asbestos-related cancers. By the time I became an attorney and understood what legal options should have been available, it was too late. The statute of limitations had run. I never got justice for my own family. I won't let that happen to yours." — Read my story.
If you or someone you love was exposed to asbestos at a refinery, shipyard, chemical plant, or other industrial facility and later diagnosed with mesothelioma, lung cancer, or asbestosis, the time to act is now.
When you contact us for a free consultation, we'll review your exposure history, identify every property owner and manufacturer who may be liable, and explain which claims apply to your situation. If you decide to move forward, we handle everything so you can focus on your health and your family.
The consultation is free. There's no obligation. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Call 833-4-ASBESTOS (833-427-2378) or schedule your free consultation online.