Woman names 31 defendants in asbestos case

CHARLESTON -- A woman is suing 31 companies she claims are responsible for her late-husband’s lung cancer and death.

Robert Gidley was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2009 and died from the disease on Sept. 9, 2010, according to a complaint filed Sept. 7 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Pattsy L. Gidley claims her husband was exposed to asbestos materials during his career as a heavy equipment operator from 1956 until 1997.

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

Pattsy Gidley claims her husband smoked from 1956 until 1996, but then quit.

Certain defendants are also being sued as premises owners and as Robert Gidley’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the suit.

Pattsy Gidley is seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved. She is being represented by John H. Skaggs and Victoria Antion.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 31 companies named as defendants in the suit are Allegheny Energy; A.O. Smith Corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company; Beazer East, Inc.; Caterpillar, Inc.; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; SPX; Crane Co.; Crown, Cork & Seal USA, Inc.; Dominion Resources, Inc.; Dravo Corporation; E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; First Energy Corporation; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Grefco, Inc; International Harvester Company; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Monongahela Power Company; Monsanto Company; Watts Water Technologies, Inc.; Occidental Chemical Corporation; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Rapid American Corporation; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Union Boiler Company; Union Carbide Corporation; and Vimasco Corporation.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 12-C-1824