Asbestos Mesothelioma Archive
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.24.12 – Textile Worker Asbestos Exposure
May 24th, 2012. 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.
Textile Worker Asbestos Risk
Medical researchers at the University of Nebraska and Duke University have found an association between asbestos-related diseases and the incidence of lung cancer among people who work at asbestos textile mills.
The study, published this May in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, tracked 6,100 workers employed at textile mills that used asbestos in South and North Carolina between 1954 and 1973. The employees’ health and vital status were tracked. Using historical dust samples, the researchers also estimated the size of asbestos fibers which the workers were exposed in the mills.
The study showed that the textile workers who were exposed to asbestos fibers—no matter what the size or diameter—had an increased risk of developing lung cancer. Interestingly, the data showed that the risk of lung cancer increased with the length of the asbestos fibers, so the longer the fiber, the greater the risk for lung cancer. The study supports the hypothesis that asbestos-related lung cancer is associated most strongly with exposure to long, thin asbestos fibers. (Occupational and Environmental Medicine)
Asbestos Lawsuit
BNSF is facing an asbestos lawsuit brought by two former railroad employees who allege they developed asbestos-related disease from exposure to asbestos-containing products while working for the Railway. Both men have asbestos-related lung disease.
In their lawsuit, William Schleicher and Frank Cox accuse the railroad of negligence and failing to provide them a safe place to work, as required by federal law.
According to their attorney, Cox was a boilermaker and Schleicher a blacksmith. Their main exposures were at the West O Street yards. Schleicher was in a reclamation plant that salvaged materials, and Cox was in a heating plant. Schleicher started work in 1943 at age 16, and Cox in 1968. They are seeking a jury trial and damages.
BNSF spokeswoman Suann Lundsberg said: “The claims filed are from former employees who have not worked for BNSF or one of its predecessor railroads for more than a decade. BNSF is currently reviewing the case and will respond through the legal process.” (journalstar.com)
Asbestos Settlement
Bridgeport, CT: A $2.4 million settlement has just been awarded in an asbestos lawsuit brought by the family of Hannibal “Scottie” Saldibar, a tile setter from New Haven, who died after contracting an asbestos-related cancer.
Saldibar, who was 84 when he died, worked as a tile setter for 30 years. He passed away in January 2010, just nine months after being diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma.
According to a report by the CT Post, a Superior Court jury deliberated about three hours Tuesday before finding the Tile Council of North America liable in Saldibar’s death, and awarding his family $1.6 million. Judge Dale Radcliffe then ordered the association to pay an additional $800,000 in punitive damages.
Although it is a trade association, Kenney said Tile Council of North America developed the asbestos-containing mortar used by tile setters for many years. (Ctpost.com)
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.17.12 – Electrician Asbestos Risk
May 17th, 2012. 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.
Electricians and Asbestos Exposure Risk
Electricians and electrical cable installers may not know it, but they are at risk for being exposed to asbestos through repair, demolition or installation work. This lethal, fibrous material was used in felted asbestos insulation or asbestos tape to insulate wiring. So working on old power lines, old wiring or breaker boxes would put electricians at risk for asbestos exposure. Older arc chutes also contain asbestos. It was used in circuit breakers, for example, before the mid-1980’s, when they were made of asbestos-containing plastic molding compound.
Recently, an asbestos lawsuit filed by six workers in Tennessee has made media headlines, because the workers were exposed to asbestos when dismantling outdated synchronous condensers, among other things.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Oak Ridge, TN: Six clean-up workers in Oak Ridge have filed an asbestos lawsuit against several government contractors alleging they were unknowingly exposed to asbestos and further they were unprotected when dealing with the lethal substance.
The lawsuit, filed May 5 in Roane County, seeks damages from the contractors who were involved in cleanup operations at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) K-25 plant in 2000-2001. Those contractors included BNFL Inc., now doing business as TSB FA Nuclear Services Inc., which headed a multiyear, $300 million DOE project that dismantled and decontaminated three uranium-enrichment facilities at the Oak Ridge site.
The six plaintiffs worked as independent contractors for R&R Electric Corp., a subcontractor that reportedly was involved in the demolition of “synchronous condensers” at the site. According to a report in the Knoxville News Sentinel, the plaintiffs claim they were told that the condensers did not contain asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls and other hazards, and that their requests for respirators and other protective equipment were refused by the contractor teams at the Oak Ridge. The workers said they were exposed at the site while cutting up the equipment with chop saws.
“The chop saws created thick clouds of fine dust and debris, which completely coated Plaintiffs’ bodies and clothing every day, and which they breathed continuously,” the lawsuit alleges.
The workers also allege that during their work at they were exposed to smoke from fires in 2000 when BNFL and another contractor, Coy Superior Inc., attempted to burn insulating material and wrapping off the large copper coils that had been removed from the condensers to salvage the copper.
“The coils were burned in open fires in the BNFL switchyard over a period of a week, creating huge plumes of smoke,” the lawsuit states. “On information and belief, the insulating material and wrapping contained significant quantities of ACM (asbestos-containing material).”
While contractors reportedly denied knowledge that the equipment contained asbestos, the lawsuit states that the Department of Energy had manuals confirming that the condensers did contain asbestos and that BNFL had access to these manuals.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensation for pain and suffering, increased risk of cancer and other diseases. The plaintiffs are Christopher Todd Upton, Leslie Darnell Jones, Jeffery Lynn Keylon, Paul Steven Vance, James David Parten and Timothy Edward Robbins. (Knoxvillenewsentinal.com)
Lancaster County, NE: BNSF Railway is being sued by two former railroad employees who allege their asbestos-related lung disease resulted from asbestos exposure during their work with the railway.
In their lawsuit, William Schleicher of Lincoln and Frank Cox of Eagle Lake allege they were required to work around asbestos-containing materials and accuse the railroad of negligence and failing to provide them a safe place to work, as required by federal law.
Schleicher worked as a blacksmith and Cox as a boilermaker, and their main exposures were at the West O Street yards. Schleicher was in a reclamation plant that salvaged materials, and Cox was in a heating plant, according to their attorney. Schleicher started work in 1943 at age 16, and Cox in 1968, according to their attorney.(Journalstar.com)
Marshall, TX: Billy F. Wall and Sandra S. Wall have filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging that Mr. Wall’s recent diagnosis of cancer is due to his extensive asbestos exposure during his six years employment at the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant in Harrison County.
Wall was diagnosed with colon cancer in June 2010, and with asbestos-related pleural disease and mild interstitial pulmonary fibrosis in 2011.
In his lawsuit, Wall states that he was exposed to asbestos from 1974 to 1980 while working as a pipefitter, welder and insulator at the ammunition plant. He claims that he was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis.
Wall has named 17 defendants in his lawsuit: A.W. Chesterton Co., Armstrong International Inc., Certainteed Corp., Clark-Reliance Corp., Cleaver-Brooks Co. Inc., Crane Co., Eaton Corp., Eaton Hydraulics Inc., Eaton Hydraulics, Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions Inc., Fisher Controls International, Power Controls, Spirax Sarco Inc., The J. Graves Insulation Co. Inc., The WM. Powell Co., Watts Water Technologies Inc., and Young Touchstone.
The defendants are accused of failing to warn, failing to test their products concerning the effects of exposure, failing to instruct or notify users or consumers of their products of proper safety measures and for failing to properly package their products so that proper labeling and instructions were easily visible.
Mr. Wall is asking for an award of damages for medical expenses, mental anguish, impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, physical pain and suffering, and court costs. Mrs. Wall is asking the court for an award of damages for mental anguish, loss of consortium and society and loss of household services. (setexasrecord.com)
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.10.12 – Car Mechanic Asbestos Exposure
May 10th, 2012. 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.
Car mechanics—the unsung heroes that keep us mobile—are among the groups of people who are at risk and were at risk for asbestos exposure. This is because brake pads and liners were made with asbestos. Auto mechanics who worked with grinding machines to smooth out those brake liners and pads, would have been exposed to asbestos.
According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency that looked at the risk for asbestos exposure during regrinding of old brake linings, as many as 7 million asbestos fibers per cubic meter can become airborne and saturate the area around the grinding machine, while it’s in use. If the mechanic was grinding new brake pads, the exposure was estimated at 5 million asbestos fibers per cubic meter.
These fibers would be inhaled, not just by the people working the machines but also by anyone nearby. If this type of exposure was routine—it would or could result in asbestos disease such as asbestos mesothelioma, asbestosis and worse.
In a ruling this week in San Francisco, four asbestos lawsuits brought by mechanics and their families in 2007 and 2008 against the manufacturer of a brake shoe grinding machine, have been reinstated. All the mechanics had developed asbestos disease.
Asbestos Lawsuits
San Francisco, CA: Four lawsuits filed by asbestos victims, against a manufacturer of brake shoe grinding machines, have been reinstated by a state appeals court in San Francisco. The lawsuits claim that the machines released the lethal fibers from brake linings. The lawsuits were filed in 2007 and 2008, by a former mechanic who suffers from asbestosis and by families of three people who, after years of exposure to asbestos, died of asbestos-related cancer.
All the plaintiffs allege the asbestos was generated from brake shoe linings by grinding machines made by Hennessy Industries, the defendant in the lawsuits. Hennessy, based in Tennessee, manufactures wheel service equipment.
This latest ruling effectively overturns an earlier decision made by Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn in June 2010, which dismissed the four asbestos lawsuits, based on Kahn’s ruling that asbestos was not used in by Hennessy in its machines, and so was not responsible for the asbestos illness and injuries detailed in the lawsuits.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the First District Court of Appeal, having reviewed the lawsuits, stated the sole purpose of Hennessy’s machines was to grind brake linings, inevitably releasing the asbestos they contained. “When used as designed and intended, Hennessy’s machines caused the release of the toxic agent,” said Presiding Justice Barbara Jones in the 3-0 ruling.” (sfgate.com)
Jefferson County, TX: The daughter of the late Joyce Venable has filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging Chevron USA and Texaco, exposed her father to asbestos. The lawsuit states “As a result of such exposure, Joyce Venable developed an asbestos-related disease, esophageal cancer, from which he died a painful and terrible death on May 23, 2010.”
According to the lawsuit, Venable was employed by Texaco in Jefferson County, where he was exposed to asbestos. The lawsuit claims that Chevron USA and Texaco knew for decades that asbestos products were harmful and still allowed their employees to work with them without warning. (setexasrecord.com)
Charleston, WV: A couple from Florida is suing 30 companies they claim are responsible for a malignant mesothelioma diagnosis of Barbara E. Amick. Mrs. Amick was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, according to the lawsuit, on December 13, 2011.
The asbestos lawsuit alleges the 39 defendants are responsible for the diagnosis because they exposed her to asbestos during her employment in the accounts and sales departments from 1952 until 1977.
Amick claims she was further exposed to asbestos during home renovations in the 1950s and 1960s at her and her husband’s home in Vienna, WV.
According to the lawsuit, the actions of the defendants were negligent. Amick and her husband, Eldon E. Amick, are seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. The 39 companies named as defendants in the suit are: Allied Glove Corporation; American Electric Power Company, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc.; CBS Corp.; Certainteed Corporation; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.; Ebasco Services Incorporated; Fairmont Supply Company; Famous Furnace & Supply Co.; F.B. Wright Company; FMC Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Georgia-Pacific, LLC; Grinnell Corporation; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Ingersoll Rand Company; International Harvester Company; I.U. North America, Inc.; J.H. France Refractories Company; McJunkin Corporation; Mahoning Valley Supply Co.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Electric Corporation; Pittsburgh Gage & Supply Company; Safety First Industries, Inc.; SepCo Corporation; Spirax SarCo Company, Inc.; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; Union Carbide Corporation; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; and Yarway Corporation.
Asbestos News Roundup: 5.3.12 – Construction Worker Asbestos
May 4th, 2012. 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.
Construction Worker Asbestos Disease Risk
It seems that that by far the majority of asbestos lawsuits we see involve construction work, in some capacity. Many of the materials used in the construction industry contained, or in some cases still contain asbestos. In fact, by the mid-20th century asbestos was being used in fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture, and drywall joint compound.
Unfortunately, In the 1960/70s the general public was not aware of the dangers of asbestos, and so millions of men and women likely worked on or around construction asbestos without any protection.
It would not be uncommon for people to work with asbestos-containing products, either installing or removing them, which would send asbestos fibers into the air. The fibers are inhaled, and settle on people’s clothing—and that’s how asbestos disease begins. People who become ill from asbestos are usually exposed to it on a regular basis, hence the hundreds of asbestos contruction lawsuits we are seeing now.
Asbestos Lawsuits
A total of 18 new asbestos lawsuits were recently filed in St. Louis Circuit Court. Last week we highlighted several, and this week we bring you a few more.
Madison County, IL: David L. and Judith Hall of Colorado allege David L. Hall developed mesothelioma after his work as a mechanic, a construction worker, and a home remodeler, in Colorado, Kansas and Washington during the 1960s and 1970s.
Nolan and Essie Madere have filed an asbestos lawsuit as a result of Nolan Madere having developed lung cancer after his work as an airborne paratrooper from 1947 until 1952, as a laborer at Shell Oil Company from 1954 until 1965 and as a maintenance mechanic at Kaiser Aluminum from 1965 until 1992.
Lawrence Hull claims he developed mesothelioma after his work as a laborer, bond office clerk, teacher and clerk at various locations throughout North Dakota, California, Oregon and Idaho from 1941 until 1995. (madisonrecord.com)
Asbestos Settlements
San Francisco, CA: A $4.5 million punitive damages award in an asbestos lawsuit will be allowed to stand—a California appeals court has ruled that it is not excessive, and that the conduct of ArvinMeritor, the defendant in the lawsuit, and successor of brake shoe manufacturer Rockwell, was “highly reprehensible.”
According to a report by Legal NewsLine, the brake shoes Rockwell made were fitted with asbestos-containing linings produced by other companies. ArvinMeritor did not dispute its liability for the acts of Rockwell.
“By the 1960s, ArvinMeritor knew that workers exposed to asbestos dust were at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases,” the judge presiding over the appeal wrote. “Indeed, in 1973 and again in 1975, it wrote letters to (Pneumo Abex) and other manufacturers complaining about the presence of asbestos dust in the brake linings it was receiving from them. Nonetheless, ArvinMeritor did not place any warnings on its products until the early 1980s, and continued to market asbestos-containing brakes until its inventory of them was exhausted sometime in the early 1990s.”
The justice noted that ArvinMeritor did not include a specific reference to cancer on its products until 1987. Gordon Bankhead, who filed the lawsuit, had worked at automotive maintenance facilities from 1965-1999. He died of mesothelioma in 2009.
A jury found ArvinMeritor 15 percent at fault for Bankhead’s death and suffering, putting it on the hook for $375,000 of a $2.5 million noneconomic damages award. The company was joint and severally liable for all of the $1.47 million in compensatory damages. A separate trial resulted in the $4.5 million punitive damages award. (Legal Newsline.com)
Monday Minute 4.30: Legal News, Lawsuit & Settlements You Might’ve Missed
May 1st, 2012. By AbiK
Lots in legal news headlines from the past week that you might’ve missed including our weekly Asbestos News column and Week Adjourned—the weekly wrap of top class action lawsuits and settlements.
This week we heard about the Bumble Bee Tuna class action lawsuit (over false advertising claims) as well as the Vita Coco false advertising settlement. Big news with type 2 diabetes drug Actos as well–is it time for round #2 with Actos lawsuits? Find more in our Monday Minute update…
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