108 Film Labworkers Sue

By Michael McCann, Ph.D., C.I.H.

Lawsuits by 108 labworkers in 32 film processing laboratories in California have been filed against 140 defendants, including the employers, manufacturers, and suppliers of film processing chemicals, and manufacturers and suppliers of film processing equipment.  These various lawsuits were consolidated and will be heard by one judge in Los Angeles, according to attorney Jeffrey Matz representing the labworkers.

One lawsuit has already been settled out of court.  Sol Epstein, who had worked 25 years in the film-printing department of MGM Laboratories, sued MGM Laboratories and MGM/UA after he contracted bladder cancer.  He claimed his bladder cancer was caused by the presence of epichlorohydrin, a known carcinogen and a stabilizer in 1,1,1-trichloroethane and perchloroethylene, chemicals used in film printing.  After his death in 1983, his widow pursued the case and it was settled earlier this year for an undisclosed sum.

The other labworkers involved in the lawsuits are claiming that exposures in the film laboratories have caused a wide variety of other illnesses, including liver, kidney, and heart damage; peripheral nerve damage; dermatitis; and fatalities, according to Jeffrey Matz.

Usually, workers cannot sue their employer because state workers compensation laws preclude lawsuits against employers.  This is beginning to break down as a result of lawsuits against Johns Mansville over asbestos-caused fatalities.  In California, a worker can sue his or her employer if it can be shown that the employer knew that an employees was injured due to some exposure and allowed the employee to continue to be exposed.  In these lawsuits, the plaintiffs are claiming that the employer did know and did nothing to alleviate the problems.


Art Hazard News, Volume 11, No. 7,  1988

This article was originally printed for Art Hazard News, © copyright Center for Safety in the Arts 1988. It appears on CAR courtesy of the Health in the Arts Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, who have curated a collection of these articles from their archive which are still relevant to artists today.