Asbestos News Roundup: 11.7.13 – Remembering Veterans’ Asbestos Risk

November 7th, 2013. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Remembrance: Our Veterans at Risk for Asbestos

Given that on Monday, November 11, the US and Canada will be marking the contributions of their war veterans, it seems a fitting time to remember that many of our veterans are also suffering from terminal, asbestos related illnesses, as a result of asbestos exposure during their service.

US Navy Veterans are at a particularly high risk for asbestos-related disease, due to their asbestos exposure while working on navy ships undergoing refits. But because asbestos-related disease can take up to 30 years or more to manifest, it is often detected long after men have left the Navy.

The states with the most US Navy Veterans include California, Florida, New York, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Massachusetts, Washington, Maine, Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Montana, Kansas, North Dakota, Hawaii, Nebraska, and Mississippi.

US Navy Veterans are not the only group of workers at high risk for asbestos exposure. Men and women who worked in power plants, manufacturing factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, mines, smelters, aerospace manufacturing facilities, demolition construction work sites, railroads, automotive manufacturing facilities, or auto brake shops may also have been exposed to high levels of asbestos

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: CSX Transportation is facing an asbestos class action lawsuit filed by Harold Newton Davis, an ex-employee who alleges the company is responsible for his asbestos-related lung cancer.

Davis was employed by CSX as a laborer and track layer in Huntington from 1945 until 1946, according to his lawsuit. He alleges that during that time he was exposed to toxic substances, including asbestos, which caused him to develop asbestos lung disease, with which he was diagnosed on December 18, 2012.

During his employment, Davis was he was unaware of the health dangers associated with asbestos exposure. In his lawsuit, Davis claims CSX Transportation failed to provide him with a reasonably safe place within which to work and failed to furnish safe and suitable tools and equipment.

As a result of his asbestos exposure and subsequent asbestos disease, Davis has suffered great pain, mental anguish and severe injuries, and his enjoyment of life has been greatly reduced, the lawsuit states. (wvrecord.com)

Madison County, IL: Steve and Marsha Bostick, have recently amended their original asbestos lawsuit to add more defendants. The complaint had named 65 corporations as defendants. However, they now name approximately 70 companies as being responsible for Steve Bostick’s asbestos-related lung disease.

Bostick worked as a mechanic with the Army from 1965 until 1968, as a deckhand on the Mississippi River and a mechanic at MTA City Bus Line from 1968 until 1971, as a power plant operator at TVA from 1971 until 1985 and as a power plant shift operator for the Army Corps of Engineers from 1985 until 2002, according to the asbestos lawsuit.

The Bosticks filed the motion to amend their complaint on October 7 to add secondary exposure history and additional defendants based on information they recently obtained, the document states. Approved on October 17, the amended complaint now names Alcatel-Lucent USA Int, formerly known as Lucent Technologies, Inc, Occidental Chemical Corporation, formerly known as Hookers Chemical Co, Reichhold, Rogers Corporation, and VF Corporation as defendants.

The couple is seeking a judgement in excess of $100,000, economic damages of more than $50,000, punitive damages of more than $100,000 and compensatory damages of more than $50,000 in their 10-count complaint. (madisonrecord.com)

Madison County, IL: James Reef, who filed his asbestos lawsuit in 2012, will now see his day in court. Reef, who worked as a carpenter, filed his lawsuit in December naming Georgia Pacific as the defendant.

According to the lawsuit, Reef’s asbestos exposure resulted from inhalation of asbestos fibers “emanating from certain products he was working with and around” caused him to develop mesothelioma. He blames Georgia Pacific for manufacturing, marketing, supplying and distributing asbestos-containing products, including joint compound and joint treatment systems.

The lawsuit claims that Reef was exposed to drywall, sheetrock, ready mix and joint compound containing asbestos, which he regularly purchased from Georgia Pacific. Reef estimates he’s used several thousand sheets of drywall from the defendant over the course of his career, picking up the products from Georgia Pacific’s facility in Wichita, KS, over 50 times.(madisonrecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements

Madison County, IL: Plaintiff William Costello, who filed an asbestos lawsuit naming over 50 companies as defendants, has had his lawsuit settled before going to trial. The lawsuit was settled after the plaintiff filed a notice to compel the CEOs and CFOs all the defendant companies to testify at trial.

According to the asbestos lawsuit, filed in November, 2012, Costello developed mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to and inhalation of asbestos fibers between the years 1996 and 1999 while he worked as a maintenance man at various locations.

Costello alleged in his complaint that the defendants manufactured, sold, distributed or installed the products containing asbestos fibers,and that they should have anticipated the dangers of working with such products. Additionally, the lawsuit claims the defendants included asbestos in their building products regardless of the known health hazards, and that they failed to use adequate substitutes for the asbestos products, failing to provide proper warnings about the asbestos dangers and failing to instruct employees on how to safely work around the products.

Costello claims he did not know the extent of the health dangers associated with working around asbestos. “Plaintiff remained ignorant and uninformed of the hazards of asbestos, failed to take precautions and was thereby exposed to, inhaled, ingested or otherwise absorbed asbestos fibers, causing him to develop the asbestos disease specified herein,” the lawsuit stated.

Costello accused the defendants of willful and wanton conduct for having a reckless disregard for the safety of the plaintiff. He also claimed the defendants conducted in negligent spoliation of evidence, arguing that documents identifying the asbestos-containing products and the work the plaintiff did, among others, were reasonably considered evidence.

He argued that defendants “breached their duty to preserve said material evidence by destroying and otherwise disposing of said documents and information, at a time when they and each of them knew or should have known that the same constituted material evidence in potential civil litigation,” the lawsuit stated. (madisonrecord.com)

 

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos risk, Asbestos Settlement

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