Union Pacific May Face Cancer Claim Despite Prior Settlement

Union Pacific Railroad will face reinstated toxic exposure claims by the widow of a worker who died of blood cancer, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled.

The trial court shouldn’t have dismissed the suit because it’s unclear whether a decade-old release of lung injury claims clears the company of liability, the court said March 13.

On remand, the court must consider whether multiple myeloma was a “known risk” to Irene and Alton Murphy when they signed a release in 2007 in exchange for a $20,000 payment, the appeals court said.

Alton Murphy worked for Union Pacific for 30 years as ...