What's your body worth? $1 million? $2M? $20M? Philip Johnson settled on $1 million , the amount his former employer, Qantas Airlines, paid him for exposing him to Hexavalent Chromium while at work, which eventually lead to him being diagnosed with lung cancer. Johnson settled on the amount out of court, because in his words, "I can no longer work because of my condition, so I'm just happy to have the money to keep going with...I just feel relieved that it's all over actually."It's impossible to put yourself in his place unless you've been in a similar situation, but somehow $1M doesn't seem enough, especially considering the emotional trauma he and his family must have endured due to his illness. Good health is priceless.
What do you think? Does $1M cover the cost of a life? Is Qantas to blame or is it just the luck of the draw?
1. Well, that question sort of answers itself, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the law is forced to measure the most intangible of goods (health, happiness, life, etc.) in frighteningly tangible denominations, i.e., cash.
In this case, it's not enough. If Qantas had provided him with adequate protection from the outset, it might be a different story (see http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21788784-5006009,00.html). This settlement allows Qantas to still deny liability, while paying a paltry sum for the destruction of Mr. Johnson's life and family.
Posted at 1:15PM on May 31st 2007 by Dan Canon