Settlement Archive
Asbestos News Roundup: 4.12.12 (Spotlight: Boiler, Furnace Workers Asbestos)
April 12th, 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.
Boiler and Furnace Technicians Asbestos Disease Risk
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, insulation blankets (the outside covering or shell), door gaskets, duct insulation, and tape at duct connections of furnaces and boilers can all contain asbestos. Technicians who worked on repairing boilers and furnaces in the past would have been at risk for asbestos exposure.
Asbestos was used between 1930 and 1972 as high-temperature insulation for oil, coal, or wood furnaces, generally found in older homes. Steam and hot water pipes were insulated with asbestos-containing material, particularly at elbows, tees, and valves. Pipes may also be wrapped in an asbestos “blanket”, or asbestos paper (which looks very much like corrugated cardboard). Asbestos-containing insulation has also been used on and inside round and rectangular furnace ducts. Sometimes the duct itself may be made of asbestos-containing materials.
Anthony Lamano worked for years as a boiler technician. He recently died from asbestos-related lung disease, but his family was successful in their pursuit of damages against the companies that manufactured the asbestos-containing materials. You can read about his asbestos settlement below.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Charleston, WV: Gay and Barbara Williams have filed an asbestos lawsuit following Gay’s recent diagnosis of asbestos-related lung cancer. Diagnosed with the potentially fatal disease on January 25, Mr. Williams alleges he was exposed to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment as a laborer from 1966 until 2005. The couple is suing 58 companies they claim are responsible for a lung cancer diagnosis.
The Williams are suing the defendants based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations and post-sale duty to warn.
The 58 companies named as defendants are: A.W. Chesterton Company; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; Catalytic Construction Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Company; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Durco International, Inc.; Flowserve US, Inc. f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell, LLC; Hercules, Inc.; Howden North America, Inc; IMO Industries, Inc.; Inductotherm Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Hammel Dahl Valves; Joy Technologies, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Reading Crane and Engineering Company; Riley Power, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunbeam Corporation; Superior Combustion Industries, Inc.; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Swindell Dressier International Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Alliance Machine Company; The Gage Company; UB West Virginia, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Electric Corporation; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc. (westvirginiarecord.com)
Asbestos Settlements
New York, NY: Three asbestos lawsuits were successfully settled this week against major asbestos and manufacturing corporations.
The lawsuits all allege that the plaintiffs—long-time workers in industries that exposed them to toxic asbestos insulation—ultimately developed asbestos-related cancers that led to their deaths. The settlements will pass to the families of the deceased.
One of the three plaintiffs, Anthony Lamano, served in the Navy from 1955-57, then worked for years as a boiler technician in Long Island before developing lung cancer. His lawsuit was filed and reached the jury selection phase before the defendants named in the complaint agreed to settle.
Two other clients’ cases were filed alongside Mr. Lamano’s. Lawrence Johnson worked for major power houses and construction sites as an insulator, later developing mesothelioma, a cancer for which the only known cause is asbestos. And, William Barthold worked as a pipefitter after serving in the Navy from 1942-46. He also died of lung cancer.
Asbestos Hot Spots
Marshalltown, IA : City officials in Marshalltown are urgently working to remove asbestos-laden debris, currently cluttering 135 E. Main St. And, the City Council has approved the filing of an asbestos lawsuit against building owners F&H Properties Corp. to mandate the cleanup.
According to a report in the Times Republican, city attorney, Curt Ward, said the city filed suit claiming that the rubble is a nuisance. The lawsuit would allow the court to seize the amount of money for the cleanup from F&H, owned by Charles Fairall and Ed Hughes, and hand it over to the city. (timesrepublican.com)
Asbestos News Roundup: 4.5.12 – (Spotlight: Asbestos Pipefitter Exposure)
April 6th, 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.
Laborers and Pipefitters at Risk for Asbestos Disease
People who work or worked as laborers and pipefitters are known to be at high risk for asbestos exposure. Why? Asbestos is mainly used as an insulating material—so it’s used in roofing and many construction materials, in electrical fittings and caulking compound for drywall. Because asbestos is a very effective fire retardant, it is also used to insulate boilers, pipes, and fire doors.
It seems that almost every week a new lawsuit is filed by the family of someone whose work involved exposure to asbestos, like the Bookers who just filed a second asbestos lawsuit on behalf of Robert Booker, who worked as a laborer and pipefitter.
Jefferson County, TX: Oda Booker filed an asbestos suit against 22 companies, on behalf of the late Robert Booker this week, even though the deceased already received a settlement for an asbestos-related disease: this second suit is brought for a different malignant asbestos-related disease.
Robert Booker worked as a laborer, pipefitter and operator. According to the lawsuit, it was through this work that he was exposed to asbestos products and asbestos fibers and dust, which caused him to suffer from asbestos-related diseases. The plaintiff alleges the defendants acted with malice, and are accused of manufacturing, distributing and using asbestos products without warning workers of the dangers.
The defendants named in the suit are: A.W. Chesterton, Bechtel Corp., CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Crown Cork & Seal, D&F Distributing, Dana Companies, Flour Enterprises, Flour Maintenance, Foster Wheeler Constructors, Foster Wheeler Corp., Foster Wheeler Energy, General Electric, Gould Pumps, Henry Vogt Machine, Ingersoll Rand, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Owens-Illinois, Riley Power, Sepco, Union Carbide and Uniroyal Holdings.
New Study Shows Asbestos Workers ‘face a greater risk of strokes and heart disease’
Results from a new study by British researchers show that men and women who worked around asbestos in their lifetimes are not only at an increased risk for asbestos-related diseases, but also cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The investigators looked into more than 15,000 deaths that occurred among nearly 99,000 workers in the British asbestos industry between 1971 and 2005. They found that nearly 4200 deaths were caused by heart disease and more than 1000 by a stroke, particularly among women.
According to a report in The Australian, “Male asbestos workers were 63% more likely to die of a stroke and 39% more likely to die of heart disease when compared with the general public, even when smoking was taken into account. The corresponding figures for female asbestos workers were 100 per cent and 89 per cent.”
The study, led by Anne-Helen Harding of Britain’s Health and Safety Laboratory, was begun in 1971 to monitor the long-term health of people who work in the asbestos industry. The investigators found that most of the male workers had been employed in removing asbestos, while female workers were generally employed in manufacturing.
There has long been a question about a possible link between asbestos, which, in addition to being a carcinogen is also as an inflammatory agent, and the risk for cardiovascular disease. This study appears to answer that question. The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. (theaustralian.com)
Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2012
Dallas, TX: This week is Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2012. Though many people think that asbestos is a thing of the past, the reality is that asbestos remains a current threat to people. According to a report by the Environmental Information Association (EIA), only 25% of countries have banned the use of asbestos worldwide and United States has not banned the use or import of asbestos. Canada still manufacturers and exports asbestos.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 107,000 people die each year from asbestos lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis resulting from workplace exposure to asbestos. In the U.S. alone, approximately 3,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma each year. And according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. asbestos imports are increasing. While much of this asbestos is being used in construction products, such as roofing materials, a portion of it ends up in consumer products. (Marketwatch.com)
LAS Newsletter: Top Legal News, Free Delivery, Every Week
April 2nd, 2012. By AbiK
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This week’s top legal news: class action lawsuits for CarMax, GoDaddy, Dial Soap, Medicus Golf, Reebok Toning Shoes, Google Privacy, Yo-Plus Yogurt, Harley Davidson, and the Honda Hybrid.
Also, an update on Yasmin and Yaz lawsuits—what’s going on with talk of Bayer Yaz settlements and what does it mean for claimants?
Read all about it—and more—every week. Sign up now!
Asbestos News Roundup: 3.29.12 (Spotlight: Asbestos and Railway Workers)
March 30th, 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.
Asbestos Workers at Risk
Railway workers…. Every week new asbestos lawsuits are filed, many of them by retired railway workers or their widows. Case-in-point—the lawsuit below filed by the widow of a retired BNSF railway man, who died from asbestos-related lung disease.
Asbestos exposure was a constant danger for people working on or around the railways in the US. Because of its insulating properties, asbestos was used to insulate steam and diesel locomotives, boxcars and cabooses, refrigeration units, pipes, and pipes, steam and hot water lines. Asbestos was also widely used in railroad brakes and clutch linings, gaskets, and in heavy-wearing floor tiles for passenger cars. And, during locomotive inspections it was not uncommon to have asbestos insulation stripped off the boilers, which would send asbestos fibers into the air and onto people’s clothing, affecting everyone in the vicinity—as well as family members at home.
Railway Worker’s Widow Sues BNSF
St. Clair County, IL: The wife of a recently deceased railroad worker, Anthony Ianno, filed an asbestos lawsuit recently against her husband’s former employer, BNSF Railway Company. In her lawsuit, Norina M. Ianno claims the railway company contributed to her husband’s death by exposing him to asbestos fibers throughout his employment with them.
Mrs. Ianno claims her husband developed asbestosis, lung cancer and another unspecified lung disease after he was exposed to asbestos fibers through his employment as a dock foreman and clerk from 1954 until 1986 for BNSF Railway Company. In addition to asbestos fibers, Mrs Ianno alleges her husand was also exposed to diesel exhaust, tobacco smoke, silica and other toxic gases, which also contributed to his disease.
Norina blames BNSF for causing her husband’s disease because, she says, the railroad negligently failed to provide Anthony Ianno with safe work, failed to provide him with equipment to protect him from asbestos fibers, exposed him to asbestos, failed to warn him of the hazards associated with asbestos and agreed to conceal the hazards of asbestos exposure.
Because of Anthony Ianno’s respiratory illness, he endured great pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement and mental anguish and lost his enjoyment of life, the suit states. He also incurred medical costs, the lawsuit states.
And, Mrs. Ianno claims that following her husband’s death on March 6, 2009, she lost his financial support. Consequently, she is seeking a judgment of more than $100,000, plus costs. (Madisonrecord.com)
Asbestos Settlements
St. Clair, IL: The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled against CSX Transportation and in favor of the family of Annette Simpkins of Granite City, IL, who died of asbestos-related cancer after her husband brought the toxic dust home on his clothing from the railroad. The ruling yesterday returns the case to Madison County, IL, for trial after a majority of Supreme Court justices found that an employer has an obligation to warn workers and their families about the dangers linked to take-home asbestos exposure.
According to the complaint in Simpkins, et al. v. CSX Transportation, Mr. Simpkins brought asbestos dust home on his clothes in the 1960s while working for CSX Transportation, formerly B&O Railroad. Mrs. Simpkins was exposed while Read the rest of this entry »
Reebok Toning Shoes Settlement Claim Forms Due Soon
March 30th, 2012. By AbiK
If you were one of those fitness lovers who drank the Reebok toning shoe Kool-Aid® only to find out there was a Reebok Toning Shoe Class Action Lawsuit, well, the deadline to get your claim form in for the Reebok Toning Shoe Settlement is fast upon us, so listen up!
Why was there a Reebok Toning Shoes Class Action Lawsuit in the first place?
Basically, false advertising—Reebok claimed their toning shoes and apparel would work wonders (surprise, surprise) and the folks who bought them felt otherwise; some even claimed they were injured by the shoes. Needless to say, Reebok denies all wrongdoing. The Court did not decide which side was right. Rather, the parties have decided to settle. So here we are.
Am I part of the Reebok Toning Shoes Class Action Lawsuit?
Darn right you are if you purchased any of the following from Reebok and/or its authorized retailers and wholesalers from December 5, 2008 through October 12, 2011, and meet any other qualifications specified on the settlement notice:
Reebok Toning Shoes (aka “Eligible Shoes”)
- EasyTone
- EasyTone Flip
- RunTone
- TrainTone
- JumpTone
- SimplyTone
- SlimTone
Reebok Toning Apparel (aka “Eligible Apparel”)
- EasyTone Capri
- EasyTone Pants
- EasyTone Shorts
- EasyTone Long Bra Top
- EasyTone Sleeveless Shirt
- EasyTone Short Sleeve Top
How much is the Reebok Toning Shoes Settlement worth?
Well, if you’re a member of the class (ie, you bought one of the eligible items above during the time mentioned above) you may be entitled to part of the settlement.
The Reebok Toning Shoe Settlement utilizes the same $25 million fund announced with the FTC on September 28, 2011, less the costs of notice and settlement administration, to pay claims to eligible Class Members relating to the purchase of eligible shoes and apparel. Court awarded attorneys’ fees and costs and class representative awards will be paid separately by Reebok. Reebok is also agreeing to make certain conduct changes.
The amount of payment to eligible Class Members will vary based on the product(s) purchased, the number and amounts claimed by all Class Members and other adjustments and deductions. The amount could be more (up to double), the same, or less than $50 for each pair of Eligible Shoes, $40 for each EasyTone Capri and EasyTone Pants, and $25 for each applicable shirt, bra top and top.
What do I need to do to get my Reebok Toning Shoe Settlement Payment?
You need to fill out and submit a claim form AT THE CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR’S WEBSITE HERE.
Your Reebok settlement claim form must be submitted electronically, or postmarked via mail, no later than April 10, 2012.
NOTE: If you already submitted a claim form after the FTC announcement, do not submit another claim form. You will also be sent a notice in the near future about the class action settlement.
The detailed notice for the Reebok toning shoe settlement describes how to file a claim and provides other important information.
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