- Catherine Munro
- April 19, 2009
GRANDPARENTS have been given the same legal status as parents when seeking work-related compensation to cover the cost of raising children in their care.
Two Sydney grandfathers who contracted illness at work will use a Court of Appeal decision that recognises their grandchildren as dependants to help claims for damages.
The men, who do not want to be named, say they contracted mesothelioma after working with building materials and that their unpaid care for their grandchildren should be recognised.
Their case received a legal boost last month when Sydney woman Margaret Dawson was posthumously awarded $193,000 for caring for her grandchildren.
She became sick after washing the asbestos-tainted clothes of her husband and father.
The landmark decision is not restricted to asbestos cases but covers all victims of work-related illness or injury.
Personal injury lawyer Tanya Segelov said the decision would help other extended families where carers were preparing claims for damages resulting from personal injuries.
Previously only parents were recognised as having children as their dependants.
"The courts are keeping up with modern family arrangements," Ms Segelov said.
One man, 72, cares for his three-year-old granddaughter three days a week, as well as helping two other grandchildren, aged 13 and five.
Another man, aged 75, worked at construction sites in Sydney in the 1960s and 1970s. He looks after his grandsons, aged two and four.
The men are seeking financial help to pay for child care they can no longer provide.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, grandparents form Australia's largest group of providers of informal child care.
The Court of Appeal's latest decision confirmed that children depend on other people as well as their parents.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New York County Pays Fine for Illegal Asbestos Removal
Cayuha Country New York legislators agreed to pay a $10,000 fine in order to resolve illegal removal of asbestos at a county building last year. The fine was issued by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and could have been much higher had they not reached an agreement.
The fine stems from the removal of asbestos from the county’s Board of Elections building in March 2006. Despite the payment, the county still faces at least one more pending violation and a class action lawsuit by people who claim they were exposed to asbestos.
What started as a simple replacement project for asbestos used on a boiler turned into a scandal when it was revealed the asbestos was handled improperly when it was removed. When it was discovered, the building was temporarily closed and the county was investigated by federal prosecutors (though no charges are expected). Earlier this year the contractor in charge of the work pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act.
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