Couple names 137 defendants in asbestos suit

CHARLESTON -- A man and his wife are suing 137 companies after they claim the companies are responsible for his asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Billy E. Bennett worked as a lab technician, engineering technician and maintenance foreman for Corhart Refractories Company in Buckhannon, according to a complaint filed July 6 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Bennett claims during his employment he was exposed to the defendants' products, which caused his lung injuries.

The defendants failed to exercise reasonable care and should have known of the dangers associated with the exposure to asbestos, according to the suit.

Bennett and his wife, Minnie Bennett, are seeking compensatory damages. They are being represented by David P. Chervenick, Bruce E. Mattock and Scott S. Segal.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The defendants names in the suit are 20th Century Glove Corporation; 84 Lumber Company; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Andritz, Inc.; Armstrong International, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Bayer Cropscience, Inc.; Beazer East, Inc.; Bickey, Inc.; Bickley, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; Borg-Warner Corporation; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Columbia Paint Corp.; Cooper Industries, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coppus Turbines; Corbesco, Inc.; Crane Co.; Crown, Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; DeZurik, Inc.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Corporation; Eichleay Corporation; Faber Burner Company; F.B. Wright Company; Fairbanks Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc.; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc., and its Byron Jackson Division; Flowserve US, Inc., as successor to Valtek International; Flowserve US, Inc., f/k/a Durco International, Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; the Gage Company; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; Gentex Corporation; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell Corporation; Henry Vogt Machine Co.; Hills-McCanna, LLC; Hinchliffe & Keener, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden Buffalo, Inc.; I. U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; ITT Corporation; Jabo Supply Corporation; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; John Crane, Inc.; Joy Global, Inc.; Leslie Controls, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Magnetek, Inc.; Mallinckrodt, Inc.; Manitowoc Company, Inc.; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Morgan Engineering, Inc.; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Service Industries, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Nutec Bickley; O.C. Keckley Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Parker-Hannifin Corp.; Peerless Industries, Inc.; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Power Piping Company; PowerMaster Pacific Products; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane; Rhone-Poulenc AG Company, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Robbins & Myers, Inc.; Rockwell Automations, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasive, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; S.F. Americas, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (US), LLC; Sullair Corporation; Sundyne Corporation; Superior Boiler Works, Inc.; Superior Combustion Industries, Inc.; SVI Corporation; Swindell-Dressler International Company; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Trane U.S., Inc.; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; Viacom, Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; Weatherford International, LTD; Weil-McLain Company; Weir Hazleton, Inc.; Whiting Corporation; Wilden Pump & Engineering, LLC; William Powell Company; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, Inc.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 10-C-1216