Asbestos lawsuit targets Honeywell, 3M, Black & Decker, Ford, Georgia-Pacific + 23 other companies

Source: The West Virginia Record

A West Virginia couple are suing more than two dozen of the country's most prominent companies over asbestos exposure.

Allen Johnson says he was exposed to large quantities of asbestos-containing products during his career which lead to his lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases.

 Johnson and his wife, Janet Canterbury Johnson, claim the defendants required him to handle products containing asbestos and exposed him to other asbestos products present in the workplace.

They also say the defendants failed to timely and adequately warn him of the dangers of asbestos and failed to provide him with information on safety and proper protective equipment.

The Johnsons are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

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.

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Manufacturer of asbestos containing joint compounds to pay $1,979,228 to retired L.A. brickmason

A Los Angeles jury has found against Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., a manufacturer of asbestos containing joint compounds, in the case of a 63 year old cancer patient and former brickmason.

Vincent Monaco worked as a brickmason at Kaiser Steel, Fontana, California, and at numerous residential sites and commercial buildings throughout Southern California between 1968 and the 1990s.  He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a debilitating and fatal cancer of the lining between the lungs and chest wall, in August 2011.

The jury found that the defendant's asbestos-containing joint compounds were defectively designed and
 assessed $479,228 in economic damages and $1,500,000 in non-economic damages.
At trial, plaintiffs presented evidence showing that the knowledge of hazards of exposure to asbestos dates back to 1898. Indeed, Kaiser Gypsum’s own internal documents starting in 1965 acknowledge that inhalation of asbestos dust from any source can cause mesothelioma decades later.

"Mr. Monaco can live out his last few months knowing that Kaiser Gypsum was held accountable today for contributing to cause his mesothelioma," stated his lawyers.

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