Lung cancer and passive smoking at work: the Carroll case

Abstract

Passive smoking is now an acknowledged risk to health and this has given rise to a public health liability for employers. More and more workplaces are becoming smoke free, but past practices mean that there is an increasing number of individuals seeking compensation for health damage caused by passive exposure to smoke. The case brought by Sean Carroll, a bus driver, against his employer, the Melbourne Transit Authority, was the first suit in Australia seeking compensation for lung cancer caused by passive smoking. Evidence at the hearing of the case indicated that there was at least a 75% probability that Carroll's cancer was attributable to passive smoking at work. Carroll accepted $65,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The case should prompt other victims of passive smoking to seek compensation and move more employers to ban smoking from the workplace.