14 asbestos suits filed against 173 defendants

CHARLESTON -- Fourteen people are suing 173 companies in eight separate complaints for asbestos exposure that caused various lung injuries.

James W. Cronin and Margaret Ann Cronin; Paul E. Herstine; Joseph L. Kolakowski and Delores R. Kolakowski; Shirley I. Quinn and David L. Quinn; George P. Schmidt Jr. and Ann S. Schmidt; Tim Watts and Nita Watts; Aubrey L. Woodward and Lydia J. Woodward; and Lawrence C. Yeater, executor of the Estate of Robert R. Yeater, deceased the the plaintiffs in the suits, according to eight complaints filed April 30 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Due to asbestos exposure, James Cronin, Joseph Kolakowski, Shirley Quinn, George Schmidt, Tim Watts, Aubrey Woodward and Lawrence Yeater were diagnosed with asbestosis and lung cancer and Herstine was diagnosed with asbestosis.

The plaintiffs were negligently exposed to asbestos during their employments and the defendants failed to warn them of the dangers of exposure, according to the suit.

The plaintiffs claim the defendants also failed to inform them of appropriate safety apparel to wear while around asbestos.

The defendants knew or should have known of the dangers exposure to asbestos could have and failed to warn the plaintiffs, according to the suit.

The 14 plaintiffs are seeking jury trials to resolve all issues involved. They are being represented by David P. Chervenick, Bruce E. Mattock and Scott S. Segal.

The cases have been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 173 companies named as defendants in the suit are 20th Century Glove Corporation of Texas; 4520 Corp. Inc.; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; AK Steel Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; American Optical Corporation; Ametek, Inc.; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Aristech Chemical Corporation; Armstrong International, Inc.; Armstrong Pumps, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Cropscience, LP; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; BP Products North America, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Cameron International Corporation; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Certainteed Corporation; Chevron U.S.A., Inc.; The Cincinnati Gasket, Packing & Mfg., Inc.; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; Columbia Paint Corp.; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Cooper Industries, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coppus Turbines; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Dezurik, Inc.; Dow Chemical Company; Dravo Corporation; E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; Eaton Corporation; Eichleay Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; The Fairbanks Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flowserve U.S., Inc., and its Byron Jackson Pump Division; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, f/k/a Durametallic Corp.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, as Successor to Edward Valves, Inc.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., f/k/a Flowserve FSD Corporation, as Successor to Valtek International; Flsmidth Inc.; Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc.; Flsmidth Salt Lake City, Inc.; Fluor Constructors International; Fluor Constructors International, Inc.; Fluor Corporation; Fluor Enterprises, Inc.; Ford Motor Company; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler, LLC; Fuller Company; 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, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell, LLC; H.E. Neumann Company; Hercules Chemical Company, Inc.; Hinchliffe & Keener, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden North America, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; Jabo Supply Corporation; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; John Crane, Inc.; Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Katy Industries, Inc.; Kelly Moore Paint Company; Kentile Floors, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Magnetek, Inc.; Mallinckrodt LLC; Manitowoc Company, Inc.; McCann Shields Paint Company; McCarls, Inc.; McJunkin Redman Corporation; Meadwestvaco Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Milwaukee Valve Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Minnotte Contracting Corporation; Mobil Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Moyno, Inc.; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Services Industries, Inc.; Nibco, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; O.C. Keckley Company; Oglebay Norton Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Parker-Hannifin Corp.; Parker-Hannifin Corporation; Peerless Industries, Inc.; Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Power Piping Company; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane; Research-Cottrell, Inc.; Rhone-Poulenc AG Company, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Robinson Fans, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; The Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Seco/Warwick Corporation; Seegott, Inc.; Selkirk Corp.; S.P. Kinney Engineers, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sullair Corporation; Sunbeam Products, Inc.; Sundyne Corporation; SVI Corporation; Swindell-Dressler International Company; Taco, Inc.; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; Team Industrial Services, Inc.; Townsend & Bottum, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc. of Pittsburgh; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Universal Refractories Corporation; Viacom Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; Weil-McLain Company; West Penn Power Company; Whiting Corporation; The William Powell Company; WT/HRC Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC.

Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers: 12-C-762, 12-C-763, 12-C-764, 12-C-765, 12-C-766, 12-C-767, 12-C-768, 12-C-769