Court OKs asbestos lawsuit


Not a day goes by when Anthony Olivo doesn't wish that it was him, not his wife, who died as a result of asbestos.


On Monday, the 85-year-old resident of Goucester, New Jersey, won a state Supreme Court decision which allows him to sue Exxon Mobil - one of more than 30 companies he has said were in some way responsible for his wife Eleanor's death in August 2001.

"It hurts me so bad," Olivo said, fighting back tears during an interview from his home on Monday. "Why didn't the good Lord give it back to me? She didn't deserve what she got."

For 37 years, Olivo worked as a steamfitter and welder. He was a union man, hired by several independent contractors to work at various sites in the state, among them Exxon Mobil's refinery in Paulsboro.
Each day, after his shift ended, Olivo would return home where his wife would make sure that he wore something over his shoes before going straight to the basement to change out of his work clothes.

Then, as she did every night, Eleanor would do the laundry.


Since Eleanor had never worked on the asbestos-covered pipes, doctors determined that she got her disease from her husband's work clothes.

"I had no idea I was taking this stuff home," Olivo said. "If I had known, I would have left my clothes at the work site."

The court determined that Exxon Mobil, which owned the property, should have known she was in danger.
The court said Exxon has been aware since 1937 that exposure to asbestos dust or raw asbestos was associated with disease.

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Still, Exxon argued that it didn't owe anything to Olivo's wife because she had not specifically worked there. The company also said it shouldn't be held responsible for her death because Anthony Olivo didn't work directly for the company. He had been brought in by the union.

"We feel that this is a great day for New Jersey workers and their families," said Olivo's attorney, George Greatrex Jr. "Premises owners like Mobil have a duty to protect not only the workers who come onto their sites, but also the spouses of those workers. The duty is to protect them from hazardous substances that originate on their premises."

An attorney for Exxon Mobil did not return calls from the Associated Press on Monday.


In 2000, 16 years after Anthony retired, his wife was diagnosed with mesothelioma -- a rare form of cancer exclusively linked to asbestos exposure, a known carcinogen.
Mr. Olivo had contracted an asbestos-related illness in 1989 but recovered.

At the time, he thought that his wife should get checked out, just in case. But she never did.


Then, in 2000, after complaining of difficulty in breathing, Eleanor went to her doctor.
After 20 minutes of waiting while his wife was examined, Mr. Olivo remembered, he was called in to speak with the physician.

Mr. Olivo said he was told to take his wife to Underwood-Memorial Hospital "immediately."
There, they found liquid in her chest, tested it, and diagnosed the mesothelioma.


Eleanor Olivo passed away months later on Aug. 18, 2001, at the age if 82.


"That's what hurts," Olivo said of the time between his retirement and his wife's illness. "I'm still coping."


In all, Olivo has sued 32 defendants, including five owners of properties where he worked. All but Exxon Mobil have settled for undisclosed amounts, according to Greatrex.

Exxon Mobil was the "dirtiest," Olivo recalled.


The reason for the lawsuit is simple:

"I want them to 'fess up to the fact that Mobil was just as bad - if not worse - than the other companies," Olivo said. "Everybody else paid their fair share."

Now that Olivo has been given the chance to have his lawsuit heard in Superior Court, his attorney is confident it will go before a judge in the coming months. That is, if the company does not opt to settle first. The amount in damages being sought has not been specified.
Family and friends have asked Mr. Olivo to move out of the home he shared with his wife since 1947 and into someplace smaller. He can't.

"I can never leave Eleanor," he said. "Eleanor was my right hand. She was everything. I can't leave her like that."