CHARLESTON – A Gallipolis, Ohio, couple are suing 70 companies they claim are responsible for an asbestosis diagnosis.
James E. Preston was diagnosed with asbestosis on June 27, 2011, according to a complaint filed March 4 in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Preston and his wife, Nancy J. Preston, claim the 70 defendants are responsible for the diagnosis.
During his employment as a laborer and instrument maintenance worker from 1953 until 1997, James Preston was exposed to asbestos and/or asbestos-containing products, according to the suit.
The Prestons claim James Preston smoked cigarettes from 1954 until 2000, but then quit.
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.
The Prestons are seeking a jury trial to resolve all issues involved. They are being represented by Bronwyn I. Rinehart of James F. Humphreys & Associates.
The case has been assigned to a visiting judge.
The 70 defendants named in the suit include 3M Company; 4520 Corporation, Inc.; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Allied Chemical Corporation; A.O. Smith Corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company; American Electric Power; American Electric Power Service Corporation; Appalachian Power Company; and Aurora Pump Company.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 13-C-432
Ohio couple name 70 defendants in asbestos suit
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