Madison County, Illinois – A Florida man with mesothelioma has filed an asbestos-related lawsuit in Madison County Circuit Court. The suit claims his disease was wrongfully caused.

Edward March worked as a boiler mechanic between 1948 and 1987 at several different locations throughout the country. He claims that during the course of his work, and during other activities such as home and automotive repairs, he was exposed to asbestos fibers released from the products he was working with. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma on March 18.

March has named a large number of defendants—a total of 66—including Bondex International, CBS, Elliott Turbomachinery, Federal-Mogul Asbestos Personal Trust, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Goodyear, Honeywell International, Ingersoll-Rand, International Paper, John Crane, MetLife, Owens-Illinois, and Philips Electronics.

The lawsuit states that “The plaintiff’s exposure and inhalation, ingestion or absorption of the asbestos fibers was completely foreseeable and could or should have been anticipated by the defendants.”

In many cases this turns out to be true: even though many companies manufactured and sold asbestos-containing products well into the 1970s and even 1980s, the dangers of the substance had been known by some as early as the 1930s. There are many companies that have been proven to have deliberately covered up knowledge of the harm asbestos could cause, because the substance was cheap to use and provided many manufacturing advantages.

To this end, Edward March’s lawsuit claims that the defendants either knew or should have known that asbestos was dangerous, and also that exposure could have been prevented with the provision of safety instructions or protective equipment.

March claims that the defendants continued using asbestos in manufacturing even though acceptable substitutes were available in many cases. He also alleges that these companies failed to provide warnings or advice on how to prevent exposure.

As a result, the suit claims, March was exposed to asbestos and developed a disease that is caused only by asbestos exposure. He is seeking damages to pay for medical treatment, and also for lost earnings as a result of being unable to work.

March is seeking in excess of $200,000 in compensatory damages, as well as an award for punitive damages due to the “willful, wanton, intentional and reckless misconduct” of the defendants named in the suit.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under Asbestos Exposure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. Responses are currently closed, but you trackback from your own site.