Now, workers have a stronger path to hold employers accountable.

The Washington Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Cockrum v. C.H. Murphy/Clark-Ullman, Inc., expanding the ability of workers to hold employers accountable when they deliberately expose employees to dangerous substances like asbestos. This case involved Jeffrey Cockrum, who spent decades working at Alcoa’s Wenatchee facility, where asbestos exposure was routine and protective gear was often absent. Years later, Mr. Cockrum developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer directly linked to asbestos. The company had long been aware of asbestos’s dangers but chose not to protect its employees.

Traditionally, Washington’s Industrial Insurance Act (IIA) provides that workplace injuries are covered by workers’ compensation, and employers are shielded from civil lawsuits. But there is a critical exception: if an employer acts with the deliberate intention to injure, employees can bring civil actions under RCW 51.24.020. Until now, however, Washington courts interpreted this exception so narrowly that workers suffering from latent diseases—like cancer caused by asbestos—were essentially barred from suing. The 2014 Walston v. Boeing decision required employees to prove with absolute certainty that disease would result, an impossible standard that effectively insulated companies even when they knowingly put workers in harm’s way.

The Supreme Court has now corrected that injustice. In Cockrum, the Court explicitly overruled Walston, recognizing that the “absolute certainty” rule made no sense in the context of diseases that take years or decades to develop. Instead, the Court held that in latent disease cases, virtual certainty is enough to establish the employer’s actual knowledge. In other words, if a company knows from its own records, medical monitoring, or prior experience that disease is virtually certain to occur from ongoing exposures, it cannot hide behind the shield of workers’ compensation. Employers who deliberately disregard this knowledge can now be held liable.

This is a crucial step forward for workplace justice. It ensures that employers cannot knowingly gamble with their employees’ health, exposing them to hazards like asbestos, toxic chemicals, or other carcinogens, while escaping responsibility simply because the resulting diseases take time to appear. The Court reaffirmed the principle that the deliberate injury exception exists to deter intentional wrongdoing—not to protect corporations from the predictable consequences of their misconduct.

We are pleased with this decision because it restores fairness and common sense to Washington law. Workers like Mr. Cockrum, who dedicated decades of service only to be left with fatal illnesses caused by deliberate company practices, deserve a real chance at justice. More broadly, this ruling sends a clear message: employers who knowingly expose workers to deadly risks will be held accountable.