New Asbestos Lawsuits Filed in Illinois

St. Clair County, ILNew asbestos lawsuits have been filed in St. Clair County, Illinois, adding to a growing number of cases, the Madison Record reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Claudia Gail Shreve filed a lawsuit against 68 different companies on behalf of her husband Kenneth, who recently died, according to the news provider. In the complaint, Shreve alleges that the defendants were responsible for allowing her deceased husband to develop lung cancer after he was exposed to asbestos-containing materials throughout his working career.

Kenneth Shreve reportedly worked for Plumbers Local 653 and as a pipe-fitter at Shell Oil, Hartford Refinery and Exxon-Shell from the 1980s until 2002, according to the lawsuit.

In a separate case, Harold Webster claims 65 defendant companies caused his brother to develop lung cancer after he worked with Ironworkers Local 167 between 1969 and 2002, the lawsuit said.

Both lawsuits state that the defendants should have known the potentially harmful affects of asbestos exposure but did not properly care for or warn the workers, the news source said.

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 107,000 people around the world die each year as a result of asbestos-related diseases.