Widow wins compensation claim after industrial disease death

Posted 05/05/2010

A widow has won her case for industrial disease compensation after fighting a legal battle against her husband’s former employers.

Ken Mitchell, 56, died in 2005 after developing nasal cancer due to the inhalation of wood dust, the Essex Echo reports.

He had been an apprentice cabinet maker at E Lock and Son in Hackney in the 1960s and 1970s, which is where he was exposed to the dust that caused his cancerous tumour.

Deborah Mitchell, his widow, decided to pursue a claim for compensation after managing to track down the former insurers of E Lock and Son in 2008.

Although the firm said it would fight the case at the High Court because it fell outside the required time constraints for claiming compensation, the company has now backed down and agreed to a compensation payout.

Ms Mitchell has received £75,000 so far, but it is thought that her eventual payout will amount to six figures.

Industrial diseases can develop as a result of long-term exposure to any noxious substance.

One of the most common forms is mesothelioma, which occurs due to exposure.