In an effort to gain control over the U.S. subsidiary copper company Asarco, Grupo Mexico, a Mexican mining organization, pledged to pursue claims against Asarco for asbestos-related personal injuries.

As San Diego personal injury lawyers, we understand that personal injury cases that are related to asbestos can lead to physical disabilities and a large stack of medical bills.  It is important that injured persons receive proper medical treatment for their person injuries because if they remain unchecked they could potentially result in wrongful death.

Now it appears that companies are using personal injuries to their advantage in order to solidify large business deals.

Grupo Mexico announced its plans in April, 2009 to defeat rival bidding company, Vedanta Resources PLC, by giving $1.3 billion in cash to remove a chunk of Chapter 11 proceedings.  On top of that, Vedanta Resources, which has most of its assets in India, has found pressure to not buy Asarco from a committee of injured persons who are involved in a personal injury lawsuit related to asbestos.

Essentially, this is a group of Asarco creditors who are backing Grupo Mexico’s offer.  They hold claims against Asarco for personal injury damages due to asbestos and if further pursued, the lawsuit could go into the range of a hundreds of million dollars.

Right now, Asarco is liable for a total of $500 million in cash plus a $250 million note for asbestos-related personal injuries.  Could business deals such as these be seen more often in the future, where one company holds another liable for personal injuries to their employees and will file a lawsuit against them unless they concede to being sold?

Say you were subjected to a personal injury on the job.  You would be filled with emotional trauma and need help paying your medical bills.  But your company is more focused in playing your pain and suffering as their ace in the hole for a corporate takeover—should they be allowed to cause you bodily harm and then use your said injury to their advantage?

As personal injury lawyers in San Diego, we are now concerned that when an employee suffers a personal injury due to negligence on their company’s behalf, they will be used as bargaining chips in future business deals instead of addressing and stopping the cause of their personal injuries.

Please feel free to call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced personal injury lawyer.  We have a large bilingual staff that can assist you in either English or Spanish.