Ohio man names 41 companies in asbestos suit

CHARLESTON -- An Ironton, Ohio, man is suing 41 companies after he claims they are responsible for his lung cancer.

Dick T. Kitts worked at Dayton Malleable in Ironton, Ohio, from 1957 until 1984 as a millwright and was diagnosed with lung cancer on March 18, 2009, according to a complaint filed April 16 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

The 73-year-old man claims he has smoked one pack of cigarettes per day since 1955.

The defendants are being sues for negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentations and post sale duty to warn, according to the suit.

Kitts is seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved in his asbestos-related suit. He is being represented by Victoria Antion.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 41 companies named in the suit are 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton; Aurora Pump Company; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Crane Co.; Elliott Company; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc., and its Byron Jackson Division; Flowserve US, Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; FMC Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; Garlock, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Goulds Pumps; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden Buffalo, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; McJunkin Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (US), LLC; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Uniroyal, Inc.; United States Rubber Company; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 10-C-718