Workers’ survivors press fight over cancer deaths.
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Feb. 15–Sixty-one survivors of Pratt & Whitney employees who died of brain cancer lost their fight to sue the jet engine maker Tuesday when the state Supreme Court ruled against them. But the battle continues on two fronts, with other cancer survivors pressing an ongoing lawsuit blaming the deaths on hazardous conditions at Pratt plants, and with calls for changes in state law governing wrongful death suits. Richard Gross, the attorney suing in Superior Court in Waterbury, said the lawsuit has grown from 10 plaintiffs a year ago to more than 20. Two years ago, the judge handling that case decided that among the original plaintiffs, 61 cases were filed too late to comply with requirements of Connecticut law, and threw them out. Survivors of the cancer victims appealed, leading to Tuesday’s unanimous Supreme Court decision. Now, Gross said Tuesday, he can return to arguing the original case — with many fewer plaintiffs. At the same time, Gross and his… |