Posts Tagged ‘ Occupational Asbestos Exposure ’
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)
Asbestos News Roundup: 4.26.12 – Second-Hand Asbestos, Take-Home Asbestos
April 26th, 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.
Second Hand or “Take Home” Asbestos
Recently, the medical profession has begun to recognize that people can be affected by asbestos-caused diseases through secondary or passive exposure.
Also known as second hand asbestos exposure or “take home” asbestos exposure, passive exposure refers to exposure to asbestos fibers that become embedded on peoples clothing or in their hair—from either another person who has been in direct contact with asbestos or from indirect circumstantial exposure to asbestos.
For example, cases of second-hand asbestos exposure were recently been reported by wives and children of men who worked in the shipyards in World War II. The workers were exposed to large amounts of damaged or “friable” asbestos while on the job, and their wives became came ill following exposure to asbestos fibers that had become lodged in the workers’ clothing. Over the years, the constant inhalation of these fibers resulted in the development of asbestos-related diseases. Case in point, the recently filed asbestos lawsuit concerning Gladys W. Williams, highlighted below.
And there have been asbestos lawsuits filed by children of men who worked around asbestos, and who developed asbestos-related illnesses.
Secondary asbestos exposure is also possible 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.
Asbestos Lawsuits
A total of 18 new asbestos lawsuits were filed in St. Louis Circuit Court recently. We’ve highlighted several here.
Madison County, IL: The family of the recently deceased Gladys W. Williams, has filed an asbestos lawsuit alleging their spouse and parent developed lung cancer as a result of her work as a laundry technician at the Jacksonville Naval Airbase in Jacksonville, Florida, from 1966 until 1978. She was also secondarily exposed to asbestos fibers through her husband, Willie Williams Sr., who served in the U.S. Navy from 1937 until the late 1960s.
Robert D. and Rosalina Cousineau allege Robert Cousineau developed lung cancer after his work as a carpenter, drywaller and construction worker at various locations from 1963 until 2005.
Gregory C. Hope alleges he developed mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos fibers throughout his career as an electrician and performing home and automotive maintenance from 1961 until 1979.
Martin L. Tune alleges he developed lung cancer after his work as a machinist and as an auto mechanic and home repairman from 1963 until 1979. Tune will be represented by Andrew A. O’Brien, Christopher J. Thoron, Bartholomew J. Baumstark and Gerald J. FitzGerald of O’Brien Law Firm in St. Louis.
Nolan and Essie Madere allege Nolan Madere 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. (madisonrecord.com)
Charleston, WV: A Charleston woman is suing 24 companies she claims are responsible for her husband’s mesothelioma and death. Theodore Hudson was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma with metastases in August 2008, from which he died on June 14, 2010, according to the lawsuit. Sharon Hudson claims the 24 defendants are responsible because they exposed her husband to asbestos during his career as a Sight Glass Technician at Cyclops Industries from 1972 until 2009. Mrs. Hudson claims the defendants failed to provide him with safety apparel to wear while working around asbestos. (wvrecord.com)
The defendants are being sued based 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.
Asbestos Hot Spots
Bloomfield, MO: The small post office in the southeast Missouri town of Bloomfield is closed after asbestos was found in the building.
The Dexter Daily Statesman reports that patrons are being urged to go to the Dexter post office.
U.S. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins says a contractor has been hired to remove the asbestos, and the building shouldn’t be closed for long, though he did not offer a guess on when the building would reopen. (stltoday.com)
Asbestos News Roundup: 4.19.12 (Asbestos & Oil Rig Workers, Asbestos Drilling Mud)
April 19th, 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.
Oil Rig Workers, Asbestos Drilling Mud and Asbestos Disease
Drilling mud is widely used in the oil industry, both onshore and offshore, to help cool the drill bit and flush debris from the well hole during drilling. Beginning in the mid-1960s, asbestos was regularly used as an additive for drilling mud in well-drilling operations by the oil industry.
Many oilfield workers may have been exposed to toxic asbestos products without knowing its harmful, and often lethal, effects. For some, their lives may be cut short due to asbestos mud products. Some oilfield workers remember using a flaky white additive that came in 50-pound bags; they mixed this asbestos into the drilling mud without any breathing or safety equipment.
Unknowingly, these workers could also expose their spouses and children to asbestos when they came home from work with asbestos fibers on their clothing. Next week we’ll take a look at second hand asbestos exposure—also known as “take home” asbestos exposure, which affected and continues to affect families of men employed in many different occupations.
Asbestos Lawsuits
Charleston, WV: On March 28, 2010, Glen Roy Jones was diagnosed with asbestosis bilateral, and now he and his wife, Florence Jones, are suing 95 companies they allege are responsible for his diagnosis.
The couple, from Chesapeake, OH, claim in their lawsuit that Mr. Jones was employed by A.C.F. Industries as a laborer, material inspector, fork lift operator, truck driver and storeroom attendant from 1963 until 1986. During that time, the defendants failed to inform Jones of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos, the lawsuit states.
Jones claims the defendants also failed to provide him with safety apparel to wear when working with asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products.
The Jones are suing the defendants based 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.
The 95 companies named as defendants in the suit are; 3M Company; A.C.F. Industries, LLC; A.W. Chesterton Company; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Amdura Corporation; Derrick Company; Aurora Pump Company; Borg-Warner Corporation; CBS Corporation; Catalytic Construction Company; Caterpiller, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Company; Crane Pumps & Systems, Inc.; Crown, Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; Dezurick; Dravo Corporation; Durabla Manufacturing Company; Eaton Corporation; Fairmont Supply Company; F.B. Wright Company; Flowserve Corporation f/k/a the Duriron Company; Flowserve Corporation as Successor-in-Interest to Durametallic Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Genuine Parts Company; Georgia-Pacific LLC; Geo. V. Hamilton, Inc.; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell LLC; Honeywell International f/k/a Allied Signal, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; FMC Corporation; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; John Crane, Inc.; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Manitowoc Cranes, Inc.; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Morgan Engineering, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Navistar, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oakfabco, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Peerless Pumps; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Pneumo Abex LLC; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Reading Crane and Engineering Company; Riley Power, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Ross Brothers Construction Co.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Schneider Electric; Shell Oil Company; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (US) LLC; Swindell Dressler International Corporation; SVI Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Alliance Machine Company; Thiem Corp.; Toyota Material Handling, USA, Inc.; U.B. West Virginia, Inc.; Union Carbide Chemical and Plastics Company, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Vimasco Corporation; Westinghouse Air Brake Division of Trane U.S., Inc.; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Western Auto Supply Company; Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc.; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (setexasrecord.com)
Jefferson County, TX: The estate of the late Ben Wilkerson has filed a second asbestos lawsuit on his behalf, for a different malignant asbestos-related disease he suffered as a result of his asbestos exposure during his career. Wilkerson worked as a pipefitter and was exposed to asbestos products and asbestos fibers and dust, which caused him to suffer from a non-malignant, asbestos-related disease, according the lawsuit.
Ben Wilkerson had already sued once and received a settlement for his non-malignant asbestos-related disease. The second lawsuit is filed pursuant to Putejovsky v. Rapid American.
In this second lawsuit, the defendants are accused of manufacturing, distributing and using asbestos products without warning workers of the dangers. Wilkinson alleges the defendants acted with malice, entitling her to exemplary damages.
The defendants named in the suit are: A.O. Smith, A.W. Chesterton, Ametek, Bechtel Corp., CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Cleaver Brooks, Crane Co., Crown Cork & Seal, D&F Distributing, Dana Companies, Flour Enterprises, Flour Maintenance, General Electric, General Refractories, Georgia Pacific, Gould Pumps, Henry Vogt Machine, Industrial Holdings, Ingersoll Rand, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Pneumo Abex, Riley Power, Sepco, Treco Construction, Union Carbide and Zurn Industries. (wvrecord.com)
Asbestos Law
Springfield, MA: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced that a Hampden County Grand Jury has indicted 59-year-old Susan Nissenbaum, a Springfield rental owner, who is charged with illegally removing and disposing of asbestos. The indictment was handed down on April 12.
According to investigators, in April 2010 Nissenbaum paid two tenants to remove asbestos siding from her single-family rental property in Springfield, and then store that siding on the property.
The investigators allege that although Nissenbaum was aware that the siding contained asbestos she failed to inform the tenants working for her as to how asbestos needed to be handled and failed to ensure that they had the proper training and equipment to do so.
“We allege that this defendant put her tenants at risk by having them unsafely remove asbestos from the property and failing to warn them of the dangers involved,” says Coakley.
Nissenbaum has been charged with three counts of violating the Mass. Clean Air Act, for her alleged failure to file a notice of asbestos removal with the D.E.P., improper asbestos removal, and improper asbestos storage. (WGGB.com)
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: 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 »
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