CHARLESTON, West Virginia – Jennings Bartlett of Philippi, West Virginia has filed suit against 25 defendants in Kanawha Circuit Court, alleging that exposure to asbestos from their products caused asbestos-related illnesses from which he now suffers. The exposure claimed includes secondhand exposure, or take-home exposure, a principle which is just starting to be accepted as grounds for suit.

Bartlett claims that he was exposed to asbestos dust as a child, when his father worked as a welder at U.S. Steel, one of the companies named in the suit. According to the suit, his father came home from work with asbestos dust on his clothing and person.

Many companies have argued that they cannot be held responsible for secondhand asbestos exposure, alleging that to do so will open a floodgate of complaints. In one recent suit, the defendant corporation’s lawyers argued that accepting secondhand exposure as a liability could conceivably open the door to complaints from any of those whom their workers may have encountered on their way home from work.

The secondhand asbestos exposure argument is based on repeated exposure to asbestos fibers on clothing and the person of a family member who worked with or around asbestos. It is most often a family member who regularly handled the dusty clothes for laundering, shaking out the dust and causing the asbestos fibers to become airborne.

Plaintiffs claim that it was general knowledge in the industry that harmful dusts and fibers could be transferred to the home on the clothing of workers, and that it had been recommended that workers be instructed in hygiene practices designed to minimize the carrying home of asbestos fibers on their clothing, hair and skin.

In addition to his exposure as a child, Bartlett’s suit alleges that he was exposed to asbestos dust while doing mechanical repair work at various automobile dealerships, garages and other similar establishments.

Bartlett’s suit alleges that because of his repeated exposure to asbestos, he now has asbestosis and mesothelioma, two diseases which are caused only by asbestos. Mesothelioma is a rare, extremely aggressive cancer that destroys the tissue lining of the lungs, or, in rarer cases, the heart or abdominal cavity.

The suit names Unarco, Raybestos, Manhattan, American Asbestos Textile Corp., Johns-Manville, H.K. Porter, Asten Hill Manufacturing Co., and Pneumo Abex Corporation, Friction Products Division and its predecessors, including American Brake Block. It alleges that those companies were part of a conspiracy to hide the harmful health effects of asbestos.

Bartlett’s wife, Beulah Bartlett, is also a plaintiff in the suit. She claims that she has suffered the loss of general services, companionship and society of her husband. The Bartletts seek compensatory and punitive damages for their injuries.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 5:23 pm and is filed under Asbestos Exposure, Asbestos Litigation, West Virginia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.