Posts Tagged ‘ asbestos law ’

Asbestos News Roundup: 12.6.12 – Railroad Asbestos Exposure

December 6th, 2012. By LucyC

This week’s asbestos news roundup includes all the 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.

Retired Railwaymen Dying from Asbestos Disease

Many retired railway men are finding that the years they spent working in railway yards and on trains has caused them to become ill with asbestos-related illnesses. And their illnesses could have been prevented if they had been made aware of the dangers and provided with proper protective gear.

Asbestos was used to insulate steam and diesel locomotives, boxcars, cabooses and pipes. It was also used in brakes and floor tiles of passenger cars. When workers were tasked with removing the asbestos, and were not wearing protective clothing, the airborne asbestos fibers became lodged in their clothes and worse, in their lungs. As this practice went on over time—years in many cases—the accumulation of the asbestos fibers in their lungs led to fatal asbestos mesothelioma.

Asbestos Lawsuits

St. Clair County, IL: BNSF Railway Co, is facing a federal asbestos lawsuit filed by four former railroad workers who allege they developed asbestos-related respiratory problems as a result of the company’s alleged negligence.

In their asbestos lawsuit, Wavie Cole, Francisco Ruiz, Carl Canada and Cleophas Eckford are seeking $10 million in compensation from their former employer — $2.5 million each.

Each of the four men claim their duties for BNSF exposed them “to toxic substances including asbestos, diesel exhaust, environmental tobacco smoke, welding fumes, silica, and other toxic dusts, gases and fumes which caused him to suffer permanent injuries to his lungs in the nature of asbestosis and other respiratory disease.” The lawsuit states that Cole was employed by BNSF from 1977 to 2010, Ruiz from 1974 and 2009, Canada from 1973 to 2006 and Eckford from 1972 and 1999. Cole was a pipefitter while the other three men were employed in the “carman craft.” Canada also worked as a laborer and electrician.

In their asbestos complaint, the former railway men claim that the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) governs their claims because their employment duties “were in furtherance of and did closely, directly and substantially affect interstate commerce,” which BNSF engaged in as “a common carrier by rail.”

The complaint includes four FELA counts — one for each plaintiff – and asserts that BNSF failed to provide the men with a reasonably safe work place or warn them of the hazardous nature of asbestos and other toxic substances.

Additionally, the asbestos lawsuit alleges the railroad company failed to inspect equipment in order to determine if there was contamination, and to take adequate steps to reduce employees’ exposure to toxic substances.

The lawsuit claims that the men’s asbestosis and other respiratory diseases are a direct result of BNSF’s negligence, which caused “in whole or in part” the plaintiffs to develop these illnesses.

As a result of their asbestos-related illnesses, each of the four men claim they have “suffered and will continue to suffer great pain and disability, genuine and serious mental anguish and extreme nervousness as a result of his reasonable concern over the prospects of developing cancer caused by his exposure to asbestos, diesel exhaust, environmental tobacco smoke, welding fumes, silica and other toxic dusts, gases and fumes.”

Further, the retired railway men claim they have and will continue to incur “great expense in endeavoring to be cured” of their illnesses and diseases and have “lost and will continue to lose large amounts of income because of” the disabilities of their respiratory problems.(madisonrecord.com)

St. Clair County, IL: Teresa Halter filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 25 defendant corporations, which she alleges, are responsible for her late husband, John Halter, to develop asbestos-related lung cancer.

In her asbestos lawsuit, Mrs. Halter claims her John Halter was exposed to asbestos-containing products throughout his career as an auto mechanic in the Detroit area from 1971 until 1974 and as a boiler tender in the US Navy from 1974 until 1978.

Mrs. Halter alleges the defendants should have known of the harmful effects of asbestos, but failed to exercise reasonable care and caution for her husband’s safety.

As a result of his asbestos-related disease, John Halter incurred medical costs and suffered great physical pain and mental anguish, the complaint says. In addition, he became prevented from pursuing his normal course of employment and, as a result, lost large sums of money that would have accrued to him, his widow claims. (madisonrecord.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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Asbestos News Roundup: 11.29.12 – Auto Mechanic Asbestos Disease

November 29th, 2012. By LucyC

This week’s asbestos news roundup includes all the 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.

Auto Mechanics & Asbestos Disease

This week we report a multi-million dollar settlement awarded to a former auto mechanic and his wife, after the husband was forced to give up his business after being diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma. While the outcome of the lawsuit is no doubt welcome by the couple, it nevertheless serves as a poignant reminder of just how much at risk auto mechanics really are for asbestos-related disease.

Asbestos was used in countless products, including automotive parts such as brake linings and clutch facings, from the 1930s until the 1980s. In fact, it is still used today in many products like car brakes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to an EPA document entitled “Guidance for Preventing Asbestos Disease Among Auto Mechanics”, “Millions of asbestos fibers can be released during brake and clutch servicing. Grinding and beveling friction products can cause even higher exposures. Like germs, asbestos fibers are small enough to be invisible and they can remain and accumulate in the lungs.” This can cause asbestos disease such as asbestos mesothelioma, which can take 30 years to manifest.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Allen Johnson and his wife, Janet Canterbury Johnson, have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 28 companies they claim are responsible for Mr. Johnson’s diagnoses of lung cancer other asbestos-related diseases.

According to the lawsuit, Allen Johnson was exposed to large quantities of asbestos-containing products during his career. The Johnson’s allege that Mr. Johnson was required, as part of his work, to handle products containing asbestos and exposed him to other asbestos products present in the workplace.

The Johnson’s further allege the defendants failed to timely and adequately warn Allen Johnson of the dangers of asbestos and failed to provide him with information as to what would be reasonably safe and sufficient wearing apparel and proper protective equipment and appliances. Therefore, the lawsuit claims, the defendants failed to take reasonable precautions or exercise reasonable care to publish, adopt and enforce a safety plan and/or safe method of handling and installing asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products. This, the lawsuit claims, makes the defendants’ actions negligent and in flagrant disregard for the rights of others and with awareness on their part that their conduct would result in human deaths and/or great bodily harm.

The Johnsons are seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. The 28 companies named as defendants in the suit are 3M Corporation; A.O. Smith; Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc.; Blue Bird Corporation; Blue Bird Motor Company; Borg Warner Morse Tec, Inc.; CBS Corp.; Certainteed Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Ford Motor Company; Genuine Auto Parts; Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Honeywell International, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Maremont Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Pneumo-Abex Corporation; Rockwell Automations, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Thomas Built Buses, Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Union Carbide Chemical & Plastics Company; Vimasco Corporation; and West Virginia Electric Supply Company. (wvrecord.com)

Asbestos Settlements

Los Angeles, CA: A retired auto mechanic who developed asbestos mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos from Ford vehicle parts such as brakes, clutches and gaskets, has been awarded $6,825,000 as settlement of his asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit.

Sixty-nine year old Patrick Scott had to give up his auto repair business when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in the fall of 2011 and has been unable to work since. After serving in the U.S. Air Force and working for nine months at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, he opened his first auto repair shop in 1966 in Sausalito. Later that year, he moved his shop to San Francisco. Then, in 1978, Scott opened a one-bay auto shop in St. Helena, California, which he ran until his diagnosis.

In his asbestos lawsuit, Scott alleged Ford’s products were defectively designed to include the use of asbestos; that Ford failed to warn of such defects, and that Ford was negligent. Further, that Ford had been aware that asbestos causes mesothelioma since 1960, yet continued to sell asbestos parts until 2001.

Throughout his career, plaintiff worked primarily on American-made vehicles, including many Ford cars and trucks. The Ford cars and trucks had asbestos brakes, clutches, gaskets, and other parts. Evidence at trial showed that Ford was a member of the National Safety Council in 1948, when that organization published a paper on the harmful effects of asbestos in brakes. (juryverdictalert.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Exposure, asbestos law, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma
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