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Sailors can sue TEPCO, Japanese gov't in U.S. over Fukushima nuclear disaster, court rules

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31 Comments
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They can pursue all they want, but the odds or chances of recovering anything are low at best. TEPCO has some holdings in the US but hardly enough to pay these people what they deserve.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

So who ordered the Ronald Reagan to the site? Who has the primary responsibility for the welfare of the sailors?  Since when did TEPCO obtain the authority to direct the movements of US Navy vessels? What self serving idiot law firm came up with this scheme?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

These are the tomodachi, are they?

Some tomodachi!

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Actually kind of good news for them, Japanese people are constantly denied the right to sue TEPCO by the Japanese court because of...

2 ( +6 / -4 )

hese are the tomodachi, are they?

Some tomodachi!

Never miss a chance to belittle the US military do you? In this case it is glaringly hypocritical considering all the verbal drivel you have slung at TEPCO.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Their lawsuit accuses Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) and the Japanese government of conspiring to keep secret the extent of the radiation leak following a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.

And rightly so! The J-Gov needs to learn that, while they may get away with lying to and misinforming their own people, the rest of the world are not always going to let it slide. Especially with something as big as this. Facts should have driven the decision making both before, during and after this event - not ego. I hope the TEPCO gets slammed for all the harm they have caused, and continue to cause.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Approaching a nuclear accident site without proper radiation measurement. Isn't that gross negligence?

4 ( +6 / -2 )

If this is then we can sue for atomic bombings

0 ( +3 / -3 )

If this is then we can sue for atomic bombings

You're an excellent example of a failing system, son... you need to read more than the 2 paragraphs presented in your edited history books covering the period 1941-1945. Thanks for the laugh of the day, though.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

If this is then we can sue for atomic bombings

Yeah, maybe if Japan hadn't invaded a number of nations, declared war and committed a bunch of sickening atrocities - then maybe they would have a case. Especially the declare war part.

But keep on living in your little bubble by all means...

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Japan could sue for the nuclear genocide perpetrated on the nation. It wouldn't get anywhere, unfortunately. The US is a bit like Japan, with the invading, wars and war crimes. It manages to get away with such excess, though. How is that?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Two wrongs don't make a right. It just makes two wrongs. Japan had plenty of opportunity to stop the suffering in WWII.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

What did the US Navy expect when they sailed into the radiation zone... sunshine and lollipops? It's a bit like saying you will walk into a wall, hurt yourself and then sue the makers of the wall.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

but hardly enough to pay these people what they deserve

They don't deserve anything as they were not damaged by TEPCO.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

This news is not reported in most Japanese news show.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

They don't deserve anything as they were not damaged by TEPCO.

Seems they have evidence to suggest otherwise. Again, not everyone is blinded to misinformation.

This news is not reported in most Japanese news show.

Because Japan is usually misrepresented in its own news, textbooks and other propaganda. But that doesn't mean the rest of the world ignores the truth - Fukushima being an example.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Their lawsuit accuses Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) and the Japanese government of conspiring to keep secret the extent of the radiation leak 

This is actually very true. The TEPCO executives denied there was a meltdown for three weeks after the event, even though the footage of the huge hydrogen explosion blowing the roof off the reactor housing was shown all over the world. I also distinctly remember ex-PM Kan screaming at the TEPCO execs to give him straight answers. The US does have a very good case against TEPCO, but they will be lucky to get their case heard in Japan.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan had plenty of opportunity to stop the suffering in WWII.

So had the US. Interning its own citizens; who did that help?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Some detailed background and reporting here:

http://megalodon.jp/2012-1231-0038-44/enformable.com/2012/03/uss-ronald-reagan-measured-0-6-mrhr-direct-gamma-shine-from-clouds-130-miles-from-fukushima-daiichi/

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ahhh litigious money grubbing. The one true skill of Americans.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Seems they have evidence to suggest otherwise. Again, not everyone is blinded to misinformation.

No, their lawyers convinced them they have evidence and hope that the government settles due to public pressure. With Trump in the White House their odds aren't good. Again, just because you don't like facts doesn't make them misinformation.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The sailors will be awarded with ridiculous amount if they win.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The sailors will be awarded with ridiculous amount if they win.

Any amount would be ridiculous. But they have a long and very difficult road to travel with very little chance of winning. Their only real hope is a settlement forced by public pressure and since this issue is getting almost zero coverage in the US media combined with Trump in the White House, they have basically already lost.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Thanks for all of your non support guys!

And no no we won't be awarded a ridiculous amount. Please read our lawsuit details before assuming. We are fighting for a MEDICAL FUND. Which will cover 5 generations... plaintiffs are sick and dying and their children have been affected. We can't just make these claims without proof... we can't have this lawsuit without undeniable proof... so I think half of these commenters need to take a look at our actual filing.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Also thank you for the comments saying I wasn't "damaged by TEPCO." No, I was "damaged" by their venting and their misinformation given to the government - which Prime Minister Kozomi has proven to be false and has supported us from the get go.

My cancer and heavy metal metal treatments has to be a result of being a normal 27 year old right? I guess I should just get over the fact that I'm bleeding out of my rear... or maybe the fact that my teeth have all broken and cracked as a result of strontium - WHICH WAS PROVEN VIA LABS. But we're all just a bunch of drama queens making stuff up right? Lol

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Also.. it's not just TEPCO named in the lawsuit. TEPCO was dissolved by the government in 2012 and private entities. GE, Hitachi, Toshiba... they all bought shares in TEPCO. TEPCO is a 80bn entity.

They can sacrafice 10b for our medical fund.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Lindsay Cooper - I wish you the outcome you deserve in your battle. People were lied to but the 'shouganai' attitude in Japan coupled with generations of people used to being lied to (and thus simply rolling over and accepting it) means that 'the good fight' is likely to never happen here.

As far as commenting on these boards, the paid right-wingers coupled with the weeaboos with little experience of Japan means that you'll meet opposition to anything that tarnishes Japan's 'pristine' image.

Luckily, the courts (at least overseas) will rely on evidence and not misinformation. I have every faith that justice will be served eventually - despite all the cowards trying to divert the course of justice.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

We can't just make these claims without proof... we can't have this lawsuit without undeniable proof.

Yes, you could make the claims and have a lawsuit without proof...if it was undeniable then you wouldn't be having so much trouble just getting the case heard. The courts will decide if the proof is undeniable.

In the US you can file a case with little if any proof and for just about anything. As one example, a man sued a dry cleaner for $54 million for a pair of lost pants. The case not only made it to a trial but even got to the appeals court. He lost but not until after years of hearings, a trial and thousands of dollars in legal fees for both sides.

My cancer and heavy metal metal treatments has to be a result of being a normal 27 year old right?

No, it isn't a result of being a normal 27 year old. But that doesn't mean it is a result of your time near the damaged reactors. If I take an airline flight and then I am diagnosed with cancer does that prove it was caused by the higher radiation I got during the flight?

They can sacrafice 10b for our medical fund.

You realize that 'they' are actually all the people that own shares, right? And it isn't a question of whether they can 'sacrifice' money or not, it is a question of whether they are liable. Are you implying that if they couldn't 'sacrifice' 10b for your fund that you wouldn't deserve the money and/or wouldn't have filed the lawsuit?

or maybe the fact that my teeth have all broken and cracked as a result of strontium - WHICH WAS PROVEN VIA LABS

So why did you have all this strontium when people closer to the accident for longer periods of time didn't? Why didn't it effect more of the people on board the ships?

Most of the issues that have been in the filings that I have read are either not known to be caused by radiation exposure or have long latency periods. This doesn't mean that you or others aren't sick. But it does indicate that Fukushima is unlikely to be the cause.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Dom Palmer really clutching at straws to compare lost pants and airline flights with the pleas of victims of a dangerously managed nuclear meltdown...

One of the most incoherent posts I've read for a while in here.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday that the sailors for now don't have to make their legal claims in Japan.

How can they make a rule on something that happened in another country OUTSIDE of US juridiction ?

It happened in Japanese waters so it should have to go through the Japanese courts.

That is like saying if i am hit by a car in the UK that was made in the USA i could sue for injuries from the USA car maker in a UK court.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

really clutching at straws to compare lost pants and airline flights with the pleas of victims of a dangerously managed nuclear meltdown...

It is called an analogy not a comparison.

One of the most incoherent posts I've read for a while in here.

Then you must not read many posts in here.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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