San Antonio Occupational Disease Attorneys: When Your Job Makes You Sick

The Slow Violence of the Workplace: Fighting for Workers Poisoned on the Job

For the hardworking men and women of San Antonio and South Texas, the jobs that build our economy and power our communities—in refineries, chemical plants, construction sites, manufacturing facilities, and more—often come with invisible, insidious risks. Unlike a traumatic injury from a fall or machinery accident, an occupational disease is a slow, debilitating, and often fatal illness that develops over months, years, or even decades of exposure to hazardous conditions at work. These are diseases like silicosis, asbestosis, benzene-induced leukemia, occupational asthma, and pesticide-related neurological disorders—illnesses directly caused by breathing toxic dusts, fumes, vapors, or coming into contact with dangerous chemicals. When you develop a serious illness because your employer failed to control these hazards, the Texas workers’ compensation system is often an inadequate remedy, offering limited benefits that fail to account for the true cost of a lifetime of suffering and lost potential.

At Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law, our Occupational Disease practice is dedicated to representing workers whose health has been sacrificed to workplace toxins. We understand that these cases exist in a difficult legal space between workers’ comp exclusivity and full tort liability. While the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act generally shields employers from direct lawsuits for on-the-job injuries, critical exceptions and third-party claims provide pathways to real justice. Success requires a dual strategy: a deep understanding of the administrative workers’ comp process and the aggressive pursuit of lawsuits against the at-fault parties outside your employer—such as the manufacturers of defective safety equipment, the producers of toxic raw materials, or the negligent premises owners of a worksite. These are not simple claims; they are complex battles of industrial hygiene, medicine, and corporate accountability.

Our mission is to be the powerful advocate that poisoned workers and their families desperately need. We combine the scientific investigation prowess of our toxic exposure team with a fierce dedication to the rights of Texas laborers. We know that proving an occupational disease requires building an airtight chain of evidence linking your specific job duties, to specific toxic exposures, to your specific medical diagnosis. We work with industrial hygienists, occupational medicine physicians, and toxicologists to reconstruct your exposure history and testify that it was the substantial cause of your illness. We fight not just for disability benefits, but for full civil damages from those third parties whose greed or negligence allowed poison into your workplace. We believe that no worker should have to trade their health for a paycheck, and we are committed to holding every responsible entity accountable for the lifelong consequences of their failures.

The Legal Landscape: Workers’ Comp and Beyond in Texas

Texas is unique as the only state where employers can opt out of the state workers’ compensation system. This creates a complex patchwork of coverage:

1. Subscribing Employers (Have Workers’ Comp Insurance):
   1. For occupational diseases, you generally must file a claim for benefits through the employer’s insurance carrier.
   2. The “Exclusive Remedy” Doctrine typically prevents you from suing your employer directly. However, benefits are limited (covering medical expenses and a portion of lost wages) and do not include compensation for pain and suffering or punitive damages.
   3. Critical Exception – “Intentional Injury”: If you can prove your employer knowingly exposed you to a toxic substance with the belief that disease was substantially certain to occur, you may bypass the exclusive remedy and sue them directly for full damages. This is a high bar but not insurmountable with the right evidence.
2. Non-Subscribing Employers (Do Not Have Workers’ Comp):
   1. You retain the full right to sue your employer for negligence in causing your occupational disease.
   2. You must prove the standard elements of negligence: duty, breach, causation, and damages.

The Powerful Third-Party Lawsuit Strategy: Regardless of your employer’s subscription status, we aggressively pursue claims against third parties whose actions contributed to your disease. These defendants are not protected by workers’ comp immunity, and you can seek full compensation from them. Targets include:

• Manufacturers of Toxic Products/Equipment: The maker of a defective respirator that failed, the producer of asbestos-containing insulation, or the formulator of a pesticide without adequate warnings.
• Premises Owners: The owner of a refinery or plant where you worked as a contractor, if their negligence created the hazardous conditions.
• Suppliers of Hazardous Materials: Companies that supplied toxic chemicals to your worksite without providing proper safety data or warnings.

Common and Devastating Occupational Diseases We Handle

1. Occupational Lung Diseases (Pneumoconioses)

Caused by inhaling hazardous dusts over time. These diseases are progressive, incurable, and debilitating.

• Silicosis: Caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica dust. High-risk industries include:
  • Fracking & Oilfield Work: Handling silica sand (“frac sand”).
  • Construction: Cutting, grinding, or drilling concrete, stone, or brick.
  • Foundries & Manufacturing: Sandblasting, casting, and abrasive manufacturing.
  • Countertop Fabrication: Cutting and polishing engineered stone, which has caused a new, severe epidemic of silicosis.
• Asbestosis & Asbestos-Related Cancers: Although regulated, exposure still occurs during renovation, demolition, and in legacy equipment. Causes asbestosis (scarring), lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
• Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis (“Black Lung”): Affecting miners.
• Berylliosis, Siderosis, and other metal dust diseases.
• Occupational Asthma & Bronchitis: From exposure to isocyanates (in paints, spray foam), flour dust, wood dust, or diacetyl (butter flavoring in food processing).

2. Occupational Cancers

Many workplace chemicals are known or suspected human carcinogens.

• Benzene-Induced Cancers: Benzene, a solvent used in the petrochemical industry, refining, and manufacturing, is a known cause of leukemia (particularly AML) and other blood cancers.
• Asbestos-Related Cancers: Mesothelioma (of the lung lining or abdomen) is a signature cancer of asbestos exposure. Lung cancer and laryngeal cancer are also strongly linked.
• Vinyl Chloride & Liver Cancer: Workers in PVC plastic manufacturing.
• Formaldehyde & Nasopharyngeal Cancer: Healthcare, embalming, and manufacturing workers.
• Pesticide-Related Cancers: Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers linked to agricultural and landscaping chemical exposure.

3. Neurological & Organ System Damage

• Heavy Metal Poisoning: Lead (causing neurological and cognitive deficits), cadmium (kidney and bone damage), mercury (neurological damage).
• Solvent-Induced Neurotoxicity: Chronic exposure to solvents like n-hexane, toluene, and xylene can cause peripheral neuropathy, cognitive dysfunction, and organic brain syndrome.
• Pesticide Poisoning (Organophosphates & Carbamates): Can cause acute poisoning and long-term neurological sequelae.
• Noise-Induced Hearing Loss: A pervasive, preventable occupational illness in construction, manufacturing, and oil & gas.

4. Skin Diseases (Dermatoses)

Contact dermatitis and other skin disorders from exposure to industrial chemicals, epoxies, and irritants.

Proving Your Occupational Disease Claim: A Scientific and Legal Process

Winning requires methodically connecting the dots between your job, the toxin, and your illness.

Phase 1: Detailed Exposure History & Worksite Analysis

We work with you to build a comprehensive work history log: every employer, job title, specific duties, chemicals or dusts you worked with, safety equipment provided (or not), and any symptoms you noticed. We then retain an industrial hygienist (CIH) to:

• Analyze the specific processes and materials used in your past workplaces.
• Review any available industrial hygiene monitoring data.
• Provide an expert opinion on the levels and types of toxic exposures you likely experienced.

Phase 2: Definitive Medical Diagnosis & Causation

A general diagnosis is not enough. We need a physician to make a diagnosis specific to occupational exposure.

• We work with occupational medicine specialists and pulmonologists who are experts in work-related illnesses.
• The doctor must review your exposure history, medical records, and test results (imaging, biopsies, pulmonary function tests) to opine that, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, your disease was substantially caused by your occupational exposures.
• This testimony is critical to defeat arguments that your illness was caused by smoking, genetics, or other non-occupational factors.

Phase 3: Identifying Liable Third Parties

Parallel to the medical investigation, we identify all non-employer entities that may share blame:

• Who manufactured the toxic substance or the defective safety gear?
• Who owned or controlled the premises where you were exposed?
• Were there other contractors on site whose negligence contributed?

Phase 4: Pursuing All Avenues for Compensation

We strategically pursue:

1. Workers’ Compensation Benefits: Ensuring you receive all medical and income benefits you are entitled to under the law from a subscribing employer.
2. Third-Party Civil Lawsuit: Filing a personal injury lawsuit against the manufacturers, suppliers, or premises owners for full damages: past/future medical care, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and punitive damages where appropriate.
3. “Intentional Injury” Claim: If evidence shows your employer acted with conscious indifference or specific intent, we pursue a direct lawsuit against them.

The Unique Challenges of Occupational Disease Cases

• Latency Period: Diseases like cancer may take 20-30 years to appear, making evidence gathering difficult and raising statute of limitations issues (which in Texas often run from the date of diagnosis, not exposure).
• The “Dose-Response” Battle: Defendants argue your exposure was too low to cause disease. We counter with expert testimony on cumulative exposure and the specific susceptibility of your diagnosis.
• Multiple Defendants & Finger-Pointing: In third-party suits, each defendant blames the others. We must be adept at managing complex, multi-defendant litigation.

The Barton & Associates Difference for Texas Workers

• Dual-Track Expertise: We are equally adept at navigating the Texas Department of Insurance – Division of Workers’ Compensation and prosecuting high-stakes civil tort litigation.
• Industry-Specific Knowledge: We understand the processes, hazards, and common players in South Texas industries like oil & gas, petrochemicals, construction, and manufacturing.
• Access to Premier Experts: We have established relationships with leading occupational physicians and industrial hygienists who are credible and persuasive.
• No-Cost Evaluation & Contingency Fees: We offer free consultations and work on a contingency fee basis—you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.

If Your Job Has Made You Sick, Time Is of the Essence

Do not assume your illness is just “bad luck” or part of getting older. If you worked around dusts, chemicals, or fumes and now have a serious respiratory condition, cancer, or neurological disorder, you may have a claim. The statutes of limitations are strict and begin to run once you know, or should know, that your disease is work-related.

Take the First Step Toward Justice and Security

Contact the experienced San Antonio Occupational Disease Attorneys at Barton & Associates today. We offer a free, confidential, and thorough case evaluation. We will listen to your work history and symptoms, review your medical records, and explain all your legal options. Call us at 210-500-0000 for a free consultation or use our online Free Consultation form.

Main Category: Personal Injury
Practice Area Category: Toxic Exposure & Illness
Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law
115 Camaron St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Office: 210-500-0000