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Rodney King, 71 from South Adelaide is suing mining giant BHP Billiton after he was diagnosed with an asbestos related lung cancer.
Mr King, who is dying of asbestosis and terminal lung cancer, alleges that he was exposed to asbestos 40 years ago while working for the company.
Mr king is now in hospital to take treatment for the deadly disease.
Mr King had worked as a fitter at BHP Billiton's Whyalla shipyard for five years.
According to the suit filed in the District Court, Mr King worked in an area where asbestos insulation was put on pipes, boilers and turbines. He says that the area was full of asbestos dust which he had to inhale frequently.
BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company. Their headquarters is in Melbourne and other key offices are in London, Perth, Johannesburg, Santiago, Singapore, Shanghai, Houston and The Hague. They operate a wide variety of mining and processing operations in 25 countries, including iron ore, manganese, diamonds, coking and thermal coal, copper, nickel, petroleum and bauxite with a global workforce of over 40,000 people.
BHP Billiton has not submitted a defence statement so far.
Apart from BHP Billiton, Mr King is suing the Wallaby Grip as well. The company is not functioning now. They also were manufacturing asbestos products.
Mr King accused that both companies were well aware of the health risks due to asbestos exposure when he was being exposed to the carcinogen.
However, Wallaby Grip dismissed the claims of Mr King. They have already filed papers denying the allegations made by Mr King.
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