Couple names 66 companies in asbestos case

CHARLESTON -- A man and his wife named 66 companies in a lawsuit after he was diagnosed with asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Richard H. Pullen and Rebecca Pullen claim the 66 companies are at fault for exposing Mr. Pullen to asbestos and other harmful materials contained in products manufactured, supplies and/or sold by them, according to a complaint filed Nov. 25 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

The Pullens claim the 66 companies failed to exercise reasonable care to warn Mr. Pullen of the danger to which he was exposed by use of the asbestos-containing products and other materials in the defendant's products.

According to the suit, Mr. Pullen suffered damages for medical treatment, drugs and other unknown remedial medical measures; great pain of the body and mind; embarrassment and inconvenience; loss of earning capacity; loss of enjoyment of life; and shortening of his life expectancy.

The Pullens are seeking damages above the court's jurisdictional minimum. David P. Chervenick and Bruce E. Mattock, Lee W. Davis and Scott S. Segal are representing them.

The companies named in the suit are 20th Century Glove Corporation; Airco Welding Products; Airgas Mid-America, Inc.; Allied Glove Corporation; Allis-Chalmers Corporation; American Optical Corporation; Aristech Chemical Corporation; Ashland, Inc.; A.W. Chesterton Company; Bayer Cropscience, Inc.; Bondex International, Inc.; Borg-Warner Corporation; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Columbia Paint Corp.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Dayton Electric Manufacturing Co.; DeZurik, Inc.; E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Company; Eaton Corporation; Fairmont Supply Company; FMC Corporation; Ford Motor Company; Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC; General Electric Company; Genuine Parts Company; Gentex Corporation; Goodrich Corporation; the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Graybar Electric Company, Inc.; Hobart Brothers Company; Honeywell, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Huntington Alloys Corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Jabo Supply Corporation; the Lincoln Electric Company; Linde LLC; Maremont Exhaust Products, Inc.; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Napa Auto Parts in Hurricane; Napa Auto Parts in Milton; Navistar, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Rhone-Poulenc AG Company, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; the Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Square D Corporation; Steel Grip, Inc.; Teledyne McKay; Union Carbide Corporation; Unifrax Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; W.W. Grainger, Inc.; and Warren Pumps, Inc.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 09-C-2189