Criminal
May 12, 2026
The silicosis epidemic and misplaced criminal liability
California is facing its worst occupational disease epidemic in a century, yet instead of banning the artificial stone products responsible, Cal/OSHA's Standards Board chair is urging prosecution of immigrant shop owners and workers affected by the hazard.
Raphael Metzger
Principal
Metzger Law Group
Phone: (562) 437-4499
Email: rmetzger@toxictorts.com
Raphael Metzger is the principal of the Metzger Law Group, a boutique toxic tort litigation firm in Long Beach that represents about 250 immigrant fabricators who suffer from silicosis. Metzger filed the first such case and has led the litigation since its inception. His firm has also filed a class action on behalf of all workers exposed to engineered stone dust in California to obtain medical monitoring to detect silicosis and other lethal diseases that are caused by engineered stone.
We are now in the midst of the worst occupational disease epidemic of a century. Thousands of workers who fabricate artificial stone countertops throughout the world are developing an extremely aggressive form of silicosis--an occupational lung disease that, over the millennia, has claimed the lives of more workers than any other toxic substance, including asbestos.
This new epidemic is worldwide in scope but has its epicenter in California, which is no...
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