Last Updated: August 24, 2026
Cut, ground, or polished stone for a living? Silica dust may be why you can't breathe now.
If you've been diagnosed with silicosis after working with countertops, concrete, or other silica-containing materials in Michigan, you may be entitled to compensation from the companies that exposed you...separate from any worker's compensation you're already receiving.
What Silica Dust Does to a Worker's Lungs
Silicosis is a permanent, incurable scarring of the lungs caused by inhaling crystalline silica dust, the fine particles released when stone, concrete, brick, or sand are cut, ground, drilled, or polished. Engineered quartz countertops, now common in kitchen and bath fabrication shops, can contain well over 90% crystalline silica, far more than natural granite or marble.
The dust is invisible in normal lighting and small enough to lodge deep in the lungs, where the body can't clear it. Over months or years, scar tissue builds up around those particles. That scarring doesn't reverse, and it doesn't stop progressing just because the exposure stops. Manufacturers of engineered stone have known about these silica concentrations for years. Many put the product on the market with warnings that fell far short of the actual danger, and without pushing the dust-control equipment fabrication shops needed to use the material safely.
At Serling & Abramson, P.C., we've spent over five decades representing Michigan workers harmed by materials their employers and product manufacturers knew were dangerous. Silicosis follows the same pattern we've litigated for years in asbestos cases: a preventable industrial exposure, a long latency period and companies that treated warnings as optional.
Symptoms Workers Often Dismiss Too Long
Silicosis rarely announces itself. Fabricators and installers who are used to physically demanding work often push through early symptoms for months before seeing a doctor, and by then, the disease has usually progressed.
- Shortness of breath: Starts during exertion, but can eventually appear even at rest as lung capacity declines.
- Cough that won't clear: Persistent or worsening cough is frequently the first sign something is wrong.
- Chest tightness: Scar tissue restricts the lungs, creating pressure that builds as the disease advances.
- Unusual fatigue: Lungs that can't move oxygen efficiently leave workers drained even without heavy exertion.
If you've worked around stone, concrete, or sand and are noticing any of this, see a pulmonologist for a chest CT and pulmonary function testing before anything else. Your diagnosis is both a medical and a legal starting point, hold onto every record it generates.
Who's Most at Risk in Michigan
Silica exposure isn't limited to one trade. Anywhere stone, concrete or sand is cut or disturbed, dust gets into the air, and into the workers nearby.
- Countertop fabricators: Dry-cutting and edge-polishing engineered quartz produces some of the highest exposure levels of any occupation.
- Installers: On-site cuts in enclosed kitchens and bathrooms, often with little ventilation, concentrate dust in tight spaces.
- Construction & masonry crews: Cutting brick, block, and concrete on renovation and new-build sites across Michigan carries ongoing exposure risk.
- Foundry & auto supplier workers: Silica sand used in molding and casting operations at Michigan manufacturing plants is a long-documented exposure source.
A dust mask alone rarely filters fine crystalline silica. Real protection requires engineering controls, wet-cutting systems, local exhaust ventilation, enclosed booths. When an employer skips those controls, that's not a technicality; under Michigan law, it's evidence of negligence.
Separate paths to compensation often apply at once. A worker's compensation claim through your employer, and a civil lawsuit against the manufacturers and suppliers who put the silica-containing product on the market. Filing one does not use up your right to the other.
Who May Be Responsible for Your Exposure
Silicosis cases rarely involve just one defendant. We investigate the entire chain that put you in front of that dust.
- Product manufacturers: Companies that formulated and sold engineered stone slabs with extreme silica content bear the central responsibility in most of these cases. If they knew the risk and failed to warn fabricators adequately, that's a strong basis for a product liability claim.
- Distributors and suppliers: Every business in the supply chain has a duty to pass along accurate safety information. A distributor that moved product downstream without proper warnings doesn't automatically escape liability just because it didn't manufacture the slab.
- Equipment makers: Saws, grinders, and polishers that lacked adequate dust-suppression or water-delivery systems can expose their manufacturers to liability alongside the material producers.
- Employers: While most claims against your own employer typically run through Michigan's workers' compensation system, an employer's documented safety failures, including OSHA citations, still matter as evidence supporting your broader case.
Michigan's Filing Deadline, and Why It's Tighter Than It Looks
Michigan applies a three-year statute of limitations to personal injury and product liability claims like silicosis lawsuits, under MCL 600.5805. Because silicosis can take years to show up after exposure, Michigan also applies the discovery rule: the three-year clock generally starts on the date you were diagnosed, or the date you first knew, or reasonably should have known, that your lung disease was connected to your work, not the date you were originally exposed.
Once you're diagnosed, the clock is running, regardless of how long ago the exposure happened. Waiting even a few months to speak with an attorney can cost you evidence, witnesses, and time you can't get back.
A workers' compensation claim will not, by itself, cover everything silicosis costs a family, it generally doesn't reach pain and suffering, full lost future earning capacity, or the broader impact on your household. A civil claim against manufacturers and suppliers is how Michigan workers pursue that remainder. Your immigration status has no bearing on your right to bring either claim. Michigan law protects the right of every injured worker to seek compensation for harm caused by a negligent company.
What Working With Serling & Abramson, P.C. Looks Like
We built our practice on occupational disease litigation, asbestos, mesothelioma, and related exposure cases, and we bring that same investigative approach to silicosis claims.
- Free, confidential case review: We go through your diagnosis, work history, and the materials you handled, at no cost, with no obligation.
- Full exposure investigation: We trace your work history across every employer and jobsite to identify every manufacturer, distributor, and equipment maker in the chain.
- Evidence gathering: Medical imaging, employment records, OSHA citations, and product documentation form the backbone of a silicosis claim, we assemble it so you don't have to.
- Filing within your deadline: We file the workers' compensation claim, the civil suit, or both, whichever your situation calls for, well within Michigan's filing window.
- Negotiation or trial: We pursue full compensation through settlement or, when necessary, at trial, on a contingency basis, so you owe nothing unless we recover for you.