Woman names 68 defendants in asbestos suit

CHARLESTON – A woman is suing 68 defendants she claims are responsible for her family member’s lung cancer and death.

Ervin Dallas Mayes was diagnosed with lung cancer on April 26, 2010, from which he died on May 5, 2011, according to a complaint filed Feb. 25 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Denise Tate claims Mayes smoked one pack of cigarettes per day from 1960 until 1991, but then quit.

The defendants exposed Mayes to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products during his employment as a laborer and carpenter from 1955 until 1995, according to the suit.

Tate claims 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.

Certain defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Mayes’ employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the suit.

Mayes was diagnosed with lung cancer on April 26, 2010, from which he died on May 5, 2011. Tate claims the 68 defendants caused the lung injury.

Tate is seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved. She is being represented by Bronwyn I. Rinehart of James F. Humphreys & Associates.

The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.

The 68 companies named as defendants include 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Allied Chemical Corporation; Ashland, Inc.; Aurora Chemical Corporation; Borg-Warner Corporation; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Buffalo Pumps, Inc.; BW/IP, Inc.; and CBS Corporation.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 13-C-379