Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas

Austin Business Journal - Paul Workman
May 1, 2009

The Texas Senate has passed a bill that will harm an already struggling economy, and soon the House will consider it. This legislation, CSSB 1123, threatens employers by allowing “no proof” asbestos lawsuits. Under this bill, any employer that may have ever had a product containing asbestos on its premises could be found liable for someone’s illness — regardless whether the amount was actually enough to cause any harm to the employee. Employers that have no liability would thus be forced to settle. This amounts to a shakedown by trial lawyers looking to line their own pockets at the expense of business. This drives up the cost of all products for all of us.

Current Texas law is working. Thanks to our state’s legal reforms, people really suffering from this dreaded illness don’t have to wait in line behind a flood of asbestos lawsuits based on junk science.

The Texas House must reject this ill-founded bill for the sake of Texas jobs and the employers who provide them.

Paul Workman runs Workman Commercial Construction Services Ltd. and is on the board of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas.