Why don’t we just take them to court?

It's a question we have been asked often and have been offered support in taking legal action against Rio Tinto, Sodexo and the individuals involved. Melissa Joyce, their lawyer who is highly regarded in 'defending medical negligence and malpractice' ( not something to be proud of there Melissa in our opinion) told us that to have any of our questions answered we would need to file a writ of summons.

Despite this, we have a full understanding of how the legal system works especially in cases such as ours where it's a small family against a corporation with deep pockets.

The employees of Rio Tinto involved are well aware that it could cost us from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight them in a legal battle. They would keep pouring money into their lawyers, with us buried under paperwork while they drag the process out as long as they can hoping they will wear us down. They have fought a man diagnosed with mesothelioma from asbestos exposure through the courts with no conscience to his personal suffering, even lodging appeals in an attempt to wear him down.

This is why we choose to say no, we will not put our children through any more harm at the hands of the employees of Rio Tinto. We will not give them the power to do that nor will we give ours away by putting our fate in the hands of the legal system dependent on deep pockets and lawyers that defend the guilty.

We have done nothing wrong and will continue to stand in our truth until those responsible for the harm caused to our family come out of hiding and show the integrity, compassion and honesty that Rio Tinto preaches.