Barboursville Man Sues 62 Companies over Asbestos-related Lung Cancer
CHARLESTON – A Barboursville man is suing 62 defendant corporations who are allegedly responsible for his asbestos-related lung cancer.
Richard Franklin Bartee has filed a lawsuit against the companies on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court. According to the suit, Bartee was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer on April 4, 2011.
Bartee says he was regularly exposed to asbestos and asbestos-containing products during his employment from 1957 until 1994.
The companies failed to warn Bartee regarding the hazards of asbestos and to protect him from the carcinogen, the suit states.
The companies are blamed for contaminating buildings, violation of warranty, intentional tort, misrepresentation and failure to warn.
Bartee is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the lawsuit resolved. A visiting judge has been assigned the case.
A.K. Steel Corporation, A.W. Chesterton Company, Ajax Magnethermic Corporation, Bechtel Corporation, Borg-Warner Corporation, Bucyrus International, Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Certainteed Corporation, Clark Equipment Company, Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc., Columbus McKinnon Corporation, Crane Co., Dravo Corporation, Eaton Electrical, Inc., Exxon Mobil Corporation, Flowserve FSD Corporation, FMC Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Foseco, Inc., Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, Goulds Pumps, Inc., Honeywell International, IMO Industries, Inc., Industrial Holdings Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, Insul Company, Inc., ITT Corporation, J.H. France Refractories, McJunkin Red Man Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Morgan Engineering, Inc., NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc., Nagle Pumps, Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc., Oglebay Norton Company, Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc., Owens-Illinois, Inc., Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC, Premier Refractories, Inc., Rapid American Corporation, Riley Power Inc., Rockwell Automations, Inc., Rust Constructors, Inc., Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc., Rust International, Inc., Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Standard Oil Company, Inc., State Electric Supply Company, Sterling Fluid Systems (US) LLC, Stockham Valves & Fittings, Surface Combustion, Inc., Tasco Insulations, Inc., The Alliance Machine Company, The F.D. Lawrence Electric Company, UB West Virginia, Inc., United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International, Viacom, Inc., Vimasco Corporation, West Virginia State Electric Supply Company, WT/HRC Corporation, and Yale Materials Handling Corporation are the 62 companies named as defendants in the case.
Woman Sues 42 Companies over Husband’s Asbestos Death
CHARLESTON – A Hampton (VA) woman is suing 42 defendant corporations for allegedly exposing her late husband to asbestos and thus causing him to develop lung cancer.
Dolores Kerns Davis has filed a lawsuit against the companies on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court. According to the suit, the plaintiff’s husband Glenn Randolph Davis died from asbestos-related lung cancer on August 1, 2011.
Dolores Kerns says the defendants exposed her husband to toxic asbestos fibers throughout his employment from 1969 until 2010.
The complaint says the companies failed to warn Glenn Randolph Davis regarding the hazards of asbestos and to prevent him from being exposed to the carcinogen.
The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the case resolved. A visiting judge will preside over the case.
Hacker Valley Asbestos Victim Sues 69 Companies
CHARLESTON – A Hacker Valley man has filed a lawsuit against 69 companies for allegedly causing him to develop malignant mesothelioma, a rare and fatal asbestos-related cancer.
The suit filed by Danny L. Coombs on January 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court says he was diagnosed with mesothelioma on October 25, 2011.
Coombs says he was exposed to the asbestos products of the defendants from 1950s until 1977.
Coombs argues the companies failed to warn him of the hazards of asbestos and to protect him from being exposed to the cancer-causing material.
The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial to get the issues involved in the case resolved.
3M Company, A.O. Smith Corporation, A.W. Chesterton Company, Ajax Magnethermic Corporation, Allied Glove Corporation, Aurora Pump Company, Borg-Warner Corporation, Burlington Industries, Inc., Carrier Corporation, Catalytic Construction Company, Certainteed Corporation, Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc., Crane Company, Dravo Corporation, Eaton Electrical, Inc., Erie City Iron Works, Flowserve US, Inc., FMC Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, Inc., Genuine Parts Company, Goulds Pumps, Inc., Greene Tweed & Company, Grinnell, LLC, Hercules, Inc., Hinchcliff Products Company, Honeywell International, Honeywell, Inc., IMO Industries, Inc., Industrial Holdings Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Company, ITT Corporation, Keisey-Hayes Company, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Maremont Corporation, McJunkin Corporation, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Modern Tool & Die Company, Nagle Pumps, Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc., Oakfabco, Inc., Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc., Owens-Illnois, Inc., Pneumo Abex Corp., Premiere Refractories, Inc., Rapid American Corporation, Riley Power, Inc., Rust Constructors, Inc., Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc., Rust International, Inc., Sager Corporation, Schneider Electric USA, Inc., Sterling Fluid Systems (USA) LLC, Sunbeam Corporation, Surface Combustion, Inc., Swindell Dressier International Corporation, Tasco Insulations, Inc., The William Powell Company, Trumbull Asphalt, UB West Virginia, Inc., Uniroyal, Inc., United Conveyor Corporation, URS Energy & Construction, Inc., Vermont American Corporation, Viacom, Inc., Vimasco Corporation, Yarway Corporation, and Zurn Industries, Inc. are the companies named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The case will be presided over by a visiting judge.
Contractor Sentenced for Asbestos Violations
A contractor has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for contempt of court, after neglecting the orders from WorkSafeBC as well as the B.C. Supreme Court not to put workers at risk by exposing them to toxic asbestos fibers.
Justice Richard Goepel sentenced Arthur Moore of AM Environmental on January 24 for keeping on employing unprotected workers to get rid of asbestos during building demolitions. Some of these workers were as young as 14 years.
“We are very disappointed because anyone, who acts in such atrocious manner, in this day and age is indeed a criminal,” said Lee Loftus, the president of the B.C. and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council. Loftus is also the business manager of the Insulators Union Local 118.
Loftus said the contractor’s behaviour was wrong on several levels. Moore was using teenagers and exposing them to carcinogens such as asbestos. In addition, he was using recovering alcoholics and drug addicts living in recovery houses, Loftus said.
Hotel Owner Ordered to Cleanup Asbestos
Joseph Chetrit, the new owner of the Chelsea Hotel, has been ordered by a Housing Court judge to clean up asbestos from shaft space, according to tenant leaders who cite signs in the structure.
“Residents are really angry. Asbestos is a lethal material,” said Zoe Pappas, the president of the Chelsea Hotel Tenant Association.
The asbestos fight is the latest conflict at the historic hotel.
A group of 34 permanent residents sued Chetrit last December, stating that the dust and airborne debris created by the widespread repairs at 222 W. 23rd St. were dangerous to their health.
The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and ordered the ongoing demolition to abide by the safety regulations.
In addition to the asbestos fight, a tenant group has come against Chetrit’s move to evict long-term residents.
