Asbestos News Roundup: 11.14.13 – US Representative Files Asbestos Lawsuit

November 14th, 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.

Family Members at Risk for Asbestos Disease

The recent case of John Mays, below, who died from mesothelioma, highlights how asbestos dust represents a danger not just to those who worked in heavy industry, but also to their family members who were in daily contact with them.

Most recently, congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging second hand asbestos exposure has resulted in her developing asbestos disease. McCarthy believes that she was exposed to asbestos fibers on the clothing of her brothers and father. The details are given below.

While it’s been reported that Representative McCarthy has been a lifelong smoker, which some argue may put her case in question, it was only a couple of weeks ago that cigarettes were in the news for their possible contribution to asbestos disease.

Sadly, there are many cases of family members developing asbestos disease as a result of secondary asbestos exposure—secondary exposure caused, for example, by wives beating their husband’s dusty overalls as they hung on a washing line, or shaking them off in a doorway before putting them in a washing machine. Their husbands worked in industries such as mining, ship-building, construction, plumbing and electrical.

Children and even grandchildren have also been put at risk, running up to a returning parent to give them a hug as they return from work, or sitting on their knee as they wear their dusty work clothes. The risk of loved ones being accidentally exposed is unfortunate and just adds to the tragic legacy of asbestos. But as this latest case shows, it is something that family members need to be made aware of.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Madison County, IL: Jurors for an asbestos lawsuit currently underway in Madison County, heard testimony this week which alleged the amount of asbestos fibers contained in a can of Georgia Pacific joint compound manufactured several decades ago, if laid end to end, would stretch past Mars.

The testimony was made on behalf of Plaintiff James Reef of Kansas, who filed an asbestos lawsuit in December 2012. In his lawsuit, Reef has named dozens of companies as defendants, which, he alleges, are responsible for his diagnosis of asbestos mesothelioma.

Just 69 years old, Reef began his career as a carpenter at the age of 19, in 1965. In his lawsuit, he alleges he spent 50 percent of his time working on drywall using an asbestos-containing joint compound made by Georgia Pacific. Reef was diagnosed with incurable asbestos mesothelioma in October 2012.

According to witness Anne Ksionzyk, a Georgia Pacific employee since 1982, the company made joint compound with asbestos beginning in 1965. She testified that a 3.2 pound can of ready mix compound contained roughly 1.2 pounds of asbestos, which the plaintiff’s lawyer calculated, would stretch 451million miles if the fibers were placed end to end.

Ksionzyk confirmed that, at the time, there were no reports of carpenters who had worked or were working with dry wall becoming ill. At the time, there were no non-asbestos containing joint compounds manufactured. Ksionzyk also said no one indicated that asbestos was highly hazardous to human health at that time. Georgia Pacific ceased production of asbestos containing products in May 1977, more than a year before it was banned.

Another witness for the plaintiff, Dr. Thomas Selders, an industrial hygienist from Austin, Texas, gave testimony regarding a report he had written on Reef’s asbestos exposure. In his report, Selders focused on overall asbestos exposure, rather than exposure just from one source, such as joint compound, so for example, background exposure, asbestos fibers traveling on Reef’s clothing, as well as from joint compound, insulation and more.

“Don’t look for asbestos in one location,” Selders told the court. “It was used in a variety of items.” Selders said asbestos fibers can travel hundreds of meters, and when Reef wasn’t directly involved in dry wall work, he was around those who were. He also said that Reef’s clothing would have carried asbestos fibers, and clothing is a source of asbestos exposure that is frequently overlooked.

“’You’d be dusty head to toe and all over your face,’” Selders recalled Reef saying about carrying those fibers with him back home and in his car. “Whether it’s in a factory or somewhere else,” Selders said, “asbestos is asbestos.” (madisonrecord.com)

Mineola, NY: 69-year old New York congresswoman, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, has filed an asbestos lawsuit on behalf of herself: she is currently being treated for asbestos-related lung cancer. In her lawsuit, she alleges she suffered asbestos exposure as a young woman, and this may have contributed to her asbestos disease.The lawsuit names 70 companies that may have made or contained products that contained asbestos.

Although McCarthy admits she has smoked cigarettes for most of her life, tobacco companies are not named as defendants because cigarettes have carried health warning labels for several decades.

The attorney representing McCarthy will use data from scientific studies which show a link asbestos exposure to smoking, claiming there is an increased likelihood of developing lung cancer when both tobacco smoke and asbestos exposure are found in patients.

According to media reports, McCarthy claims that as a young woman, she suffered secondary or take-home asbestos exposure when she did laundry for her brothers and father, who worked as boilermakers in navy yards and powerhouses, areas where asbestos was widely used. The asbestos fibers would become airborne and attach to the men’s clothing. (kentucky.com)

Madison County, IL: Lisa Michelle Lippold filed an asbestos lawsuit on behalf of her recently deceased husband, Thomas W. Lippold. In her lawsuit, Lippold names 50 defendant corporations, which, she alleges, caused her husband to develop lung cancer as a result of his exposure to their asbestos-containing products throughout his career.

From 1948 to 1996, Thomas Lippold worked as a welder and car man at Railcar Nebraska, and from 1997 to 1999 he worked as an audio and technical engineer at Grand Country 76 Music Hall. From 2000 to 2009 he worked as an audio and technical engineer at Pierce Arrow Theatre finally, he worked as a welder at Chatsworth Products in 2012, according to Lippold’s complaint.

Lippold lost her husband on November 15, 2012, as a result of his asbestos-related diseases. In her lawsuit, Lippold states that prior to his death, the asbestos illnesses caused him to become disabled and disfigured, incur medical costs and suffer great physical pain and mental anguish. Additionally, he was prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, she alleges.

The lawsuit states that the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for the plaintiff’s safety.

Mrs. Lippold is seeking a judgment of more than $150,000, economic damages of more than $200,000, compensatory damages of more than $150,000, punitive and exemplary damages of more than $50,000 and other relief the court deems just. (madisonrecord.com)

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

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