Barboursville man names 62 companies in asbestos case

Task: 170178
CHARLESTON -- A Barboursville man is suing 62 companies he claims are responsible for his lung cancer.

On April 4, 2011, Richard Franklin Bartee was diagnosed with lung cancer, according to a complaint filed Jan. 12 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Bartee claims he was exposed to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing fibers during his career from 1957 until 1994.

The defendants failed to warn Bartee of the dangers of asbestos and failed to protect him from asbestos, according to the suit.

The 62 defendants are being sued based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn, according to the suit.

Bartee is seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved. He is being reprenseted by Victoria L. Antion, Scott A. McGee and Bronwyn I. Rinehart.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 62 defendants named in the suit are A.K. Steel Corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Bechtel Corporation; Borg-Warner Corporation; Bucyrus International, Inc.; Caterpillar Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; Exxon Mobil Corporation; Flowserve FSD Corporation; FMC Corporation; Ford Motor Company; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Honeywell International; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Morgan Engineering, Inc.; NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Oglebay Norton Company; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Riley Power Inc.; Rockwell Automations, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Standard Oil Company, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (US) LLC; Stockham Valves & Fittings; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Alliance Machine Company; The F.D. Lawrence Electric Company; UB West Virginia, Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia State Electric Supply Company; WT/HRC Corporation; and Yale Materials Handling Corporation.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-88