Judge Affirms Judgment, Rejects Workers' Compensation Defense

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A Louisiana appellate court has upheld a $1.25 million judgment entered against Exxon Mobil Corp. in an asbestos case, rejecting the defendant's efforts to seek immunity under the workers' compensation defense. Spillman v. Anco Insulations Inc., et al., No. 2007 CA 0763 (La. Ct. App., 1st Cir.).

In the Sept. 9 opinion, the First Circuit Court of Appeal found that the former Exxon Mobil employee's cause of action accrued prior to the enactment of a statute that extended workers' compensation immunity to occupation diseases.

The underlying claims were asserted by Bruce Spillman, who claims his …