Asbestos News Roundup: 11.8.12 – Asbestos At Work Class Action

November 8th, 2012. By LucyC

The weekly 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 Exposure at Work – Who’s Paying for It?

Week after week we report on asbestos lawsuits filed by men and women who have become seriously, if not fatally ill from exposure to the carcinogen throughout their working lives. This week, we came across an employment class action lawsuit filed by employees of a staffing agency who worked with the toxic substance, but also allege they were denied wages by the agency.

Filed October 22, the class action lawsuit states that WMS Solutions, which has offices in Baltimore and Bethesda, has violated state and federal regulations by making employees pay for job-related equipment and training out-of-pocket, and has not paid them for time spent in required training courses.

If you are working around asbestos you should have protective clothing and equipment. If you don’t have protective gear, such as masks, appropriate clothing and gloves, not only are you at serious risk of developing an asbestos related illness, your family and loved ones may suffer take home or second hand asbestos exposure, the consequences of which can also be devastating, as the lawsuits below illustrate all too clearly.

Asbestos Law

Charleston, WV: Mary C. Bowen, widow of the deceased Thomas Jarrett Bowen, has filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 30 companies she claims are responsible for her late husband’s lung cancer and death.

On November 3, 2010, Thomas Jarrett Bowen was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died from the disease on December 5, 2010.

Mrs. Bowen alleges in the lawsuit that her husband was exposed to asbestos and/or asbestos containing products during his employment as a laborer from 1964 until 2001.

Mary Bowen is suing the defendants based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn. Additionally, some of the defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Thomas Bowen’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the lawsuit.

The 39 companies named as defendants in the suit are A.W. Chesterton Company; Caterpillar, Inc.; CBS Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Corporation; Erie City Iron Works; Flowserve Corporation f/k/a the Duriron Company, Inc.; Flowserve Corporation, as successor-in-interest to Durametallic Corporation; FMC Corporation; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell, LLC; Honeywell International; Howden North America, Inc.; IMO Industries Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Schneider Electric; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Swindell Dressier International Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (wvrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: A Paynesville widow has filed an asbestos lawsuit, alleging her husband’s death from asbestos-related disease was caused by exposure to the carcinogen during his working life. She has named 93 companies she asserts are responsible for her husband’s asbestos mesothelioma and subsequent death.

Clyde Junior Blankenship was diagnosed with mesothelioma, from which he died on June 30, the lawsuit states. He worked as a welder and a mine operator from 1974 until 2012.

The defendants are being sued based on 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 suit.

Certain defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Clyde Blankenship’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the suit.

The 93 defendants named in the suit are: 3M Company; A.O. Smith Corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company; Adamson Global Technology Corp.; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Aladdin Carpet Mills, Inc.; Allied Glove Corporation; Borg-Warner Corporation; Breeding Insulation Company, Inc.; Cabin Craft, Inc.; Caterpillar, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Challenge-Cook Bros. of Georgia, Inc.; Chicago Boiler Company; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Continental Steel Tank Company, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coronet Industries, Inc.; Crane Co.; Crown Cotton Mills Proprieties, Inc.; Dalton Carpet Finishing Company, Inc.; Dalton Supply Company; Dravo Corporation; E.T. Barwick Industries, Inc.; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Elite Processing, LLC; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; FMC Corporation; Ford Motor Company; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Genuine Parts Company; Georgia Pacific Corporation; Goulds Pumps; Grinnell, LLC; Hercules, Inc.; Hobart Brothers; Honeywell International; Howden North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Devalco Corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand; ITT Corporation; J. H. Fletcher & Co.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Lattner Boiler Company; Lincoln Electric Company; Maremont Corporation; McNeil Corporation; Mestek, Inc.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Modern Carpet Industries, Inc.; Mohawk Industries, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Oakfabco, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Rapid-American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Shaw Industries, Inc.; Spiraxsarco, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunbeam Corporation; Sunoco, Inc.; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Swindell Dressler International Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc; The Dow Chemical Company; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co.; The Sager Corporation; Union Carbide Chemical & Plastics Company; United Conveyor Corporation; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Weil-McLain Company; West Point-Pepperell, Inc.; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; World Carpets, Inc.; Yale Materials Handling Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (wvrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: On August 9, 2012, Paul Everett Beckman Sr. was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma. Consequently, Mr. Beckman and his wife have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 81 companies they claim are responsible for his illness.

In their lawsuit, the Beckmans claim the defendants exposed Mr. Beckman to asbestos during his career as a mechanic and laborer since the 1940s and through his wife, who worked at Owens Illinois Glass Factory, and his father and brother, who were utility workers with Consol Energy.

The defendants are being sued based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn. Certain defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Beckman’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the lawsuit.

The 81 companies named as defendants in the suit are: 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Airtek, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Autozone Stores, Inc.; Beazer East, Inc.; Borg-Warner Corporation; Caterpillar Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Consol Energy, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; F.B. Wright Co. of Pittsburgh; Fairmont Supply Corporation; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; Genuine Parts Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Georgia Pacific Corporation; Georgino Industrial Supply (Pittsburgh), Inc.; Goulds Pumps; Grinnell, LLC; Harvey Hubbell, Inc.; Hercules, Inc.; Honeywell International; Howden North America, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Devalco Corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand; ITT Corporation; J. H. Fletcher & Co.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Lewis-Goetz And Company, Inc.; Maremont Corporation; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; McNeil Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Morgantown-National Supply, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Petroleum Pipe and Supply Company, Inc.; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Phillips Corporation; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid-American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Ritter Technology LLC; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunray Electric Supply Company; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co.; Union Carbide Chemical & Plastics Company; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Conveyor Corporation; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Groups International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yale Materials Handling Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (wvrecord.com)

Unpaid Wages and Asbestos Exposure: Class Action Filed Against WMS Staffing

Bethesda, MD: Employees listed with the WMS staffing agency in Bethesda, who work with asbestos and other toxic materials, have filed an employment class action lawsuit alleging they were victims of “intentional schemes to deny them wages.”

WMS provides temporary staff to work sites and contractors to work in asbestos removal, as well as mold and lead removal, the lawsuit contends.

Filed October 22, the lawsuit contends that WMS Solutions, which has offices in Baltimore and Bethesda, has violated state and federal regulations by making employees pay for job-related equipment and training out-of-pocket, and has not paid them for time spent in required training courses.

Class members are seeking unpaid wages and the costs of training programs, physicals and personal protection equipment that the company is required by law to provide to employees at no cost, the complaint states.

Marvin Blandon, one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit and a WMS employee, said that without proper training, he could get sick or bring asbestos home on his clothes to his wife and baby: this type of asbestos exposure is called ‘second hand’ or ‘take home’ asbestos exposure.

“I’ve been forced to pay hundreds of dollars just to make sure I don’t get sick from my work,” Blandon said through a translator. “Specialty training, equipment and trips to the doctor are also required so that I can do my job safely, and my employer should pay for them, not me.”

According to the lawsuit, WMS deducted $110 from Blandon’s wages in 2011, for a Washington, DC, asbestos license fee, and may have made other unauthorized deductions from his wages during his employment with them. Blandon further claims he has paid approximately $300 for annual asbestos refresher course fees, as well as about $32 for a respirator he is required to wear when performing asbestos abatement work.

To date, over 30 WMS workers have joined the asbestos employment class action lawsuit, however hundreds of workers may be affected. (gazette.net)

Weird Lawsuit: Attack of the 600-pound Crucifix

November 7th, 2012. By AbiK

One thing’s clear in this bad faith lawsuit: the plaintiff hasn’t lost his faith in our justice system. Whether he’s lost any faith otherwise, who knows—but David Jimenez is suing St. Patrick’s Church in Newburgh, NY after the church’s exterior crucifix fell on him, crushing his leg, and resulted in an amputation.

Huh?

Well, you need the back story on this one to fully understand it, so here we go.

Jimenez’ wife had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Being a religious man, Jimenez would stop by St. Patrick’s Church and pray in front of the crucifix for his wife to be cured. She ultimately was—and Jimenez felt indebted to the crucifix (and one would assume to God, himself) for his wife’s recovery.

According to CBSNews, Jimenez’ attorney Kevin Kitson stated, “David attributed the cure to his devotion to that cross.”

So, to show his heartfelt gratitude, Jimenez got permission to clean the crucifix, which was apparently in need of a good once-over. So far, so good.

Things unfortunately went south from there. Jimenez began to clean the cross—but it dislodged causing him to fall to the ground, with the cross crushing his right leg.

The alleged culprit? A screw. There was allegedly one screw holding the 600 lb. statue at its base. “The screw was useless. The screw is useless. It supported no anchoring system,” Kitson said in the CBS report.

The report goes on to say that St. Patrick’s Church parishioners collected $7,000 and food for the Jimenez family. But apparently, the insurance company for the archdiocese hasn’t shown the same generosity of spirit.

So what started as a heart-warming story of faith and devotion has now become a heart-wrenching bad faith insurance lawsuit.

The falling crucifix lawsuit is headed to trial, and jury selection was set to begin today.

Asbestos News Special Report – Hurricane Sandy Cleanup & Asbestos Risk

November 1st, 2012. By LucyC

This week, Asbestos News Roundup is publishing a special report on the risk of asbestos exposure following Hurricane Sandy, along with the weekly 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 Exposure After Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has brought disaster to millions of people in over half a dozen states in the eastern US. Many people either already have, or will soon begin, cleaning up their homes—or sadly, what is left of them. It goes without saying that caution and awareness of potential hazards such as asbestos exposure are extremely important in this type of situation. Among the debris removed after the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, was 2,600 tons of asbestos. Asbestos is a known carcinogen—it causes cancer—and the diagnoses of asbestos-related illnesses often prove fatal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on their website epa.gov, states “Individuals should exercise caution when disturbing building materials to prevent physical injury or other health effects. Building materials may contain hazardous materials such as asbestos that when carried by the air can be breathed in and cause adverse health effects. If it is suspected that asbestos containing materials may be present, they should not be disturbed. Asbestos-containing materials include the following:

• boiler/pipe insulation

• fireproofing

• floor tiles

• asbestos roofing

• transite boards used in laboratory tabletops and in acoustics in auditoriums, music rooms and phone booths

Federal, state and local personnel are often deployed to affected areas to establish debris-management programs, including household hazardous waste collection and disposal programs. These efforts may take days or weeks to come to all communities. In the meantime, EPA urges the public to exercise caution and report concerns to local environmental, health and waste disposal authorities.”

For more complete information on how to deal with environmental cleanups, visit http://www.epa.gov/naturaldisasters/returnhomeadvisory.htm

Asbestos Law

Portland, OR: An Oregon developer has pleaded guilty to charges that he allowed an unlicensed contractor to release asbestos into the air during the demolition of several buildings located in an abandoned sawmill site. The site is located near residential neighborhoods.

Dan Desler, a 68-year old businessman, was sentenced last week in federal court to pay restitution for the cleanup of the demolition of the Sweet Home sawmill. The sentence includes three years of probation and 200 hours of community service.

The EPA declared the old sawmill acreage a Superfund site and subsequently spent $1.6 million cleaning up more than 4 million pounds of asbestos.

According to a report in the Albany Democrat-Herald, Desler was managing trustee of a trust that owned the former Willamette Industries site, which had not been used for years. There were development plans which included upscale and moderately priced housing and a complex or artists, hunters and anglers, all on 400-600 acres. However, development never happened.

The original buildings on the sawmill property were various stages of disrepair, and in 2004 a fire damaged several of the buildings. According to a report on TDN.com, firefighters told state regulators of debris that appeared to contain asbestos, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality told Desler about the asbestos. He hired a licensed contractor to abate the asbestos, but work was not completed in any of the undamaged buildings. Desler then hired an unlicensed contractor three years later, who over eight months tore down, crushed and even chipped asbestos-containing materials.

The site is near a residential area and large piles of asbestos-containing materials were left uncovered.

U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said in a sentencing memorandum that the developer “took short cuts that resulted in copious amounts of asbestos being released and contaminating not only the facility but the surrounding neighborhoods.” (tdn.com)

Anheuser-Busch Scion Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit

October 31st, 2012. By AbiK

Remember Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick mess? And the more recent one about polo club founder John Goodman—who after being charged with DUI was trying to adopt his girlfriend? The rich and famous just seem to have a way of getting into trouble with the law—and not just in a misdemeanor kind of way. This time, it was August Busch IV—Busch as in Anheuser-Busch, as in Budweiser, as in St. Louis, as in Clydesdales. That Busch.

August Busch IV, great-great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, founder of A-B, has settled a wrongful death lawsuit over the accidental death of his former girlfriend, Adrienne Martin. Martin died at Busch’s mansion in 2010 after an accidental drug overdose involving both cocaine and the the prescription painkiller oxycodone.

The wrongful death lawsuit had been filed by Martin’s ex-husband, Dr. Kevin Martin, on behalf of their son Blake, who is a minor. Later, Adrienne Martin’s parents, Larry Eby and Christine Trampler, were able to join the lawsuit after an appeal.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the settlement, which was signed on Tuesday by Circuit Judge William Syler, calls for Blake Martin to receive $1.35 million. Adrienne Martin’s mother, Christine Trampler agreed to accept $200,000; her father, Larry Eby agreed to a $200,000 out-of-court settlement to be put into an annuity for his grandson.

After Martin died, an autopsy revealed cocaine use and evidence of an overdose of the prescription painkiller oxycodone. Police investigated the incident, and prosecutors said there was no evidence to indicate Martin’s death was anything other than accidental.

August Busch IV was CEO of Anheuser-Busch up until the sale of the company to Belgian company InBev in 2008. Since that time, the Post-Dispatch reports, Busch has continued as a paid consultant at Anheuser-Busch InBev, receiving $120,000 a month.

Asbestos News Roundup: 10.25.12 – Neighborhood Asbestos

October 25th, 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 Exposure in the Community

You don’t have to work with asbestos containing products to suffer its effects. It is also possible to suffer asbestos exposure by living in a community or area located near an asbestos mine or a company that manufactures asbestos or products containing asbestos. Many older buildings may also contain asbestos insulation, including schools.

Once commonly used for insulation and pipe wraps, asbestos causes lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis when its fibers are crumbled or pulverized. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined there is no safe level of exposure to the airborne fibers.

One example of community exposure include the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and areas prone to damage from natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. But it doesn’t take a disaster for asbestos exposure to occur locally in your community—our Asbestos Hot Spot Map shows locations across the US in which asbestos has been an issue and, in many instances, asbestos abatement has been needed.

Most recently, three men were sentenced to federal prison time for violations of the EPA Clean Air Act. The charges included their having sent asbestos fibers into the air due to uncontrolled asbestos removal, for over a year. The construction site was across the street from a daycare center and residential housing.

Asbestos Law

Three men have been sentenced to time in federal prison for polluting an East Chattanooga community with asbestos during the demolition of an old textile mill. Don Fillers, David Wood and James Mathis, all from Chattanooga, were convicted on charges of conspiracy and violations of the Clean Air Act. The men are due to report to prison on November 16.

Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier sentenced Fillers to four years in federal prison, Wood to 20 months and Mathis to 18 months for their part in spreading asbestos over a demolition site where the Standard-Coosa-Thatcher plant once stood.

Additionally, Fillers was fined $30,000 for his company, Watkins Street Project, and $20,000 personally. The judge also ordered $28,000 be paid in restitution to the Environmental Protection Agency, Chattanooga Department of Public Works and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau.

Fillers, who owned the property owner, his employee, work site foreman Wood, and the demolition contractor Mathis, were all charged in a 10-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud the United States, Clean Air Act violations, false statements, obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting.

The demolition of the abandoned plant generated asbestos-containing dust which subsequently spread through the air between 17th Street between Watkins and Dodds avenues, across the street from residential housing and near a day care center. These violations of the Clean Air Act took place between August 2004 and December 2005.

“These sentences send a strong message that criminal violations of environmental laws designed to protect human health from exposure to hazardous substances, such as asbestos, will not be tolerated,” US Attorney William Killian said in a news release. (Chattanoogatimesfreepress.com)

Asbestos Medical Breakthrough

A breakthrough in the detection of possible asbestos-related disease, including asbestos mesothelioma has been made, with researchers at the laboratory of New York University Langone Medical Center reporting they have found that fibulin-3—a new protein biomarker present in blood—can reliably predict the presence, or absence, of mesothelioma cancer cells.

This discovery could lead to the development of a screening tool for people concerned they may be at risk for asbestos disease, due to exposure to the lethal carcinogen. The findings were published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“It’s a first step, but a very promising step,” thoracic oncologist Harvey Pass, M.D. Pass, New York University Langone Medical Center, told Reuters Health. “We’re enthused that this marker eventually will help the mesothelioma community.”

The search for a screening tool for asbestos-related disease has been underway for years. The difficulties of diagnosing asbestos diseases such as mesothelioma are significant, particularly in light of the fact that it takes decades for the disease to manifest, by which time the prognosis is typically fatal, because the cancer has spread throughout the body.

Additionally, the symptoms of mesothelioma symptoms frequently mirror those of less serious illnesses, which means it can take up to six-months for doctors to rule out other illnesses, and confirm the presence of asbestos mesothelioma.

“The problem now is that patients present with late-stage, bulky disease where we have very few options,” Pass told Reuters Health. “With an earlier presentation, you have a surgical option and better treatment results, and they have better responses to chemotherapy. You can convert this to a disease that you can chronically treat.”

The biomarker is remarkably accurate, with the researchers reporting a 96.7 percent success rate in accurately determining the presence or absence of mesothelioma when looking at blood and pleural fluid of patients. Dr. Pass and fellow researchers also found that fibulin-3 levels fell dramatically after reductive surgery and increased as the disease progressed.

An estimated 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with asbestos disease annually. This research has the potential to make those diagnoses possible earlier, thereby enabling earlier treatment. (www.curetoday.com)