Supreme Court holds employers liable for low-level exposure to asbestos By Fiona Gill and Margaret Thomas, Davies Arnold Cooper.

By Fiona Gill and Margaret Thomas, Davies Arnold Cooper

In the conjoined appeals of Sienkiewicz v Greif (UK) Ltd and Willmore v Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council [2011] UKSC 10, the Supreme Court has confirmed employers can be liable for damages for mesothelioma where employees were exposed to low levels of asbestos fibres in the workplace, even where the employees’ exposure to asbestos fibres in their general environment also created a risk of contracting the disease.