Fairmont woman names 30 defendants in asbestos case

CHARLESTON -- A Fairmont woman is suing 30 companies she claims are responsible for her lung cancer.

On May 28, 2010, Norma Jean Keener was diagnosed with lung cancer, according to a complaint filed Jan. 20 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Keener claims the 30 defendants are responsible for her lung cancer.

The defendants exposed Keener to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing material during her career as an inspector and packer at Owens-Illinois from 1959 until 1980, according to the suit.

Keener claims the defendants failed to warn her of the dangers of asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products.

The 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.

Keener is seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved. She is being represented by Bronwyn I. Rinehart, Victoria L. Antion and Soctt A. McGee.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 30 companies named as defendants are A.W. Chesterton Company, Inc.; Allied Glove Corporation; Cleaver Brooks Company, Inc.; F.B. Wright Company; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; G. V. Hamilton, Inc.; General Electric Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Ingersoll-Rand Company; McJunkin Corporation; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Rust International, Inc.; Sager Corporation Theim Corporation; Surface Combustion, Inc.; Swindell Dressier International Corporation; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Gage Company; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-144