Asbestos News Roundup: 6.23.11

June 23rd, 2011. By LucyC

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

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: A couple from Zelienople, PA have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 103 companies as defendants. The Pandocchis claim in their lawsuit that the defendants are responsible for Jeffrey Pandocchi’s asbestosis diagnosis.

Mr. Pandocchi was diagnosed with asbestosis in December, 2009. In his lawsuit he alleges he was exposed to asbestos and asbestos products during the course of his employment with the defendants, and that the defendants failed to warn him of the asbestos-containing products and failed to warn him of the harm the products could do.

Mr. Pandocchi further claims the defendants failed to recommend methods to improve the work environment and failed to develop alternative products that did not contain asbestos.

The asbestos lawsuit alleges that the 103 defendants “continued to use a known cancer-causing product.”

Mr. Pandocchi and his wife, Kathryn Pandocchi, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The 103 defendants named in the suit are: A.O. Smith Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Allegheny Energy, Inc., F/K/A Allegheny Power; Allied Glove Corporation; American Electric Power Company, Inc.; American Optical Corporation; Appalachian Power Company; Aqua-Chem, Inc., Cleaver-Brooks Division; Armstrong International, Inc.; Armstrong Pumps, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Beazer East, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc., a Subsidiary of WMX Technologies, Inc.; Buckeye Power, Inc.; Cardinal Operating Co.; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Columbus McKinnon; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Crown Cork & Seal Company; Dezurik, Inc.; Dravo Corporation; Durametallic Corporation; Eaton Corporation; Electrolux Home Products; F.B. Wright Company; Fairmont Supply; Flowserve Corporation; FMC Corporation, Individually And On Behalf Of Its Former, Peerless Pumps; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler Corporation; General Electric Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Company; Grinnell Corporation; Hedman Resources Limited; Honeywell, Inc; Honeywell International, Inc., Formerly Known As Allied Signal, Inc. As Successor In Interest to the Bendix Corporation; Hunter Sales Corporation; IMO Industries, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation, F/K/A ITT Industries; J.H. France Refractories Company; J.M. Foster, Inc.; Joy Technologies; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Mallinckrodt Group, Inc.; Marley Cooling Tower; McCann Shields Paint Company; McCarls, Inc.; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; Met-Pro Corporation And Its Dean Pump Division; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, A/K/A Metropolitan Insurance Company; Milton Roy Company; Milwaukee Valve Company; Mine Safety Appliance Company; Minnotte Contracting Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Morgan Engineering, In Its Own Right, A Successor In Interest To Alliance Machine Company; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oglebay Norton Company, And Its Division Ferro Engineering; Ohio Power; Ohio Valley Insulating Company; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Pennsylvania SN, Inc.; Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP; Powell Valve Company; Power Piping; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane & Engineering Co.; Riley Stoker Corporation; Safety First Industries, Inc.; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Sealite, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; Square D Company; Stockham Valves & Fittings; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; the Sager Corporation; Thiem Corporation; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Treco Construction Services, Inc.; Tyco Flow Control Company, LLC; UB West Virginia , Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Vimasco Corporation; Virginia Electric And Power Company, Inc.; Washington Group International; Whiting Corporation; WMX Technologies, Inc.; and Yarway Corporation. 

Kanawha County, IL: The widow of a recently deceased railroad worker has filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging that Illinois Central Railroad Company was responsible for her husband’s being exposed to asbestos and subsequently developing lung cancer.

Katherine Jackson filed her asbestos lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Illinois Central Railroad. In her suit, Mrs. Jackson alleges her late husband, Claudy Jackson, worked as a fireman for the railroad company from 1948 until 1951. During that time, she alleges, her husband was exposed to asbestos, diesel exhaust, environmental tobacco smoke, silica, welding fumes, toxic dusts, gases and other fumes.

As a result of his exposure, Claudy Jackson experienced great pain, disability, mental anguish and nervousness and incurred medical costs, the lawsuit states. Claudy Jackson died on April 26, 2008, after succumbing to lung cancer, according to the lawsuit. As a consequence of her husband’s death, Mrs. Jackson alleges she and his four grown children lost his financial support.

Katherine Jackson blames Illinois Central Railroad for causing her husband’s injuries, saying it negligently failed to provide him with a safe place to work and with safe equipment, exposed him to asbestos and failed to warn him of asbestos exposure, among other negligent acts.

In her four-count complaint, Katherine Jackson is seeking a judgment of more than $200,000, plus costs. (madisonrecord.com) 

Charleston, WV: Mr. and Mrs. Davis, a couple from Waverly, have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 116 companies as defendants. The couple claim the defendants are responsible for Francis “Pete” Davis’ mesothelioma diagnosis.

Mr. Davis was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma on March 3, according to the lawsuit the couple filed in May. Mr. Davis claims he was exposed to asbestos during his career as a production operator and mechanic from 1959 until 1996. Davis further alleges that the defendants were negligent in failing to warn him about the asbestos, according to the suit.
Mr. Davis and his wife, Doris Davis, claim the defendants knew or should have known that the asbestos exposure was unsafe.

The defendants are being sued upon theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn, according to the lawsuit.(WVRecord.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos_mesothelioma

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