MOUNDSVILLE – A couple is suing 70 companies they claim are responsible for an August mesothelioma diagnosis.
John Lewis Lafferty was diagnosed with incurable and asbestos-related malignant mesothelioma on Aug. 25, according to a complaint filed in Marshall Circuit Court.
Lafferty and his wife, Dorothy Lafferty, claim the only medically known cause for mesothelioma in America is exposure to asbestos dust and, over the course of his lifetime, John Lafferty was exposed to asbestos dust while working as a supply person at various job sites in West Virginia.
The defendants’ manufacture, sale, distribution, use, specification, disturbance and/or installation of asbestos-containing products exposed John Lafferty to asbestos, resulting in asbestos-caused disease, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim exposure to and the inhalation of asbestos dust was a direct and proximate cause of his development of asbestos-related malignancy.
Over the course of John Lafferty’s life, he was exposed to and worked with and/or around products containing asbestos and/or other harmful minerals manufactured, supplied, sold, distributed, installed, used, specified, removed and/or required by the defendants, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claims the defendants failed to warn them of the dangers of the products and failed to take reasonable precautions to warn them of the dangers John Lafferty was exposed to when they knew or should have known of the dangers.
The defendants failed to exercise reasonable care to warn John Lafferty of the danger to which he was exposed by use of the asbestos-containing products and failed to inform him of what would be safe and sufficient apparel for a person who was exposed to or used the product or products, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants were negligent and caused damages and injuries.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. They are being represented by Leslie Ann James of Hartley & O’Brien PLLC.
Marshall Circuit Court case number: 15-C-193