Couple names 11 defendants in asbestos suit

CHARLESTON - A couple has listed 11 defendants in an asbestos suit, claiming their negligence led to illness.

Okey O'Neil Wright and Linda Diane Wright claim in a lawsuit filed March 20 in Kanawha Circuit Court that those 11 defendants, of which two are West Virginia corporations, that Okey Wright's health problems are traceable to the years he spent in a plant in Buckhannon.

"(Wright) was exposed to asbestos insulation from a steam generating boiler, associated piping, kilns, furnaces and dryers," the complaint says. "He was required to handle and did handle and use asbestos products supplied to the plaintiff by the defendant corporations, and was required to and did remove asbestos insulation from piping and other structures."

Wright says he now suffers from mesothelioma, a lung disease than can be caused by inhaling asbestos dust.

Of the defendants, A&I Company and Nitro Industrial Coverings are West Virginia corporations. Saint Gobain of Pennsylvania owned the refractory plant Wright worked in from 1966 to 2003.

His wife Linda is suing for loss of spousal consortium.

Wright is suing for strict liability of defendant premises owners; liability of defendant premises owners for negligence; allegations of deliberate intent against certain defendants; liability of defendant employers pursuant to West Virginia Code and claim for punitive damages there under; liability of certain defendants for negligence; liability of certain defendants for breach of warranty; strict liability of certain defendants; conspiracy theory against certain defendants; liability of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; spoliation and obstruction of claim; and punitive damages as to all defendants.

The Wrights are represented by John Skaggs of The Calwell Practice. A visiting judge will be assigned the case.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number 06-C-513