81-year-old sues former employer

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.andoveradvertiser.co.uk/news ... _employer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AN ANDOVER pensioner with terminal cancer is suing the Royal Mail Group for a six-figure sum, after blaming them for contracting the disease.

Margaret Wilson, 81, claims asbestos exposure while working as a telephonist for the firm was the reason she developed the incurable illness.

Mrs Wilson, who lives in Weyhill, worked for the General Post Office at telephone exchanges in Cumbria and Lancashire for almost 20 years, between 1951 and 1970.

According to a writ issued at London’s High Court, she was frequently exposed to asbestos dust while cabling and equipment modification work was carried out in the offices where she worked.

Mrs Wilsons’ lawyers state that her career with the General Post Office started at the exchange in Kendal, just outside the Lake District, before moving on to sites in Workington and Bolton.

She later returned to Kendal towards the end of her two decades with the company.

Mrs Wilson’s lawyers say that she breathed in asbestos dust and fibres during that time, when a large hole in an asbestos cement floor was chiselled out to lay new cables. The writ goes on to state that Mrs Wilson has since been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma – a cancer of the lining of the lungs often associated with exposure to asbestos.

Although she was well until July last year, her condition has progressively worsened since then, causing her to endure much pain and suffering.

That has prompted Mrs Wilson to sue the General Post Office's successors, the Royal Mail Group Limited, for up to £150,000 in damages.

A copy of Royal Mail’s defence was not available from the court and the contents of the writ have yet to be tested in evidence before a judge.

[BoltonPostie]

Isn't the first one of these cases whilst somebody worked at our old office in Bolton.

[eric the viking]

Shouldn't she be suing British Telecom?

[Red Robbo]

Shouldn't she be suing British Telecom?

British Telecom was not in existence then hence the previous owners.