CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County couple is seeking damages from several entities over allegations exposure to benzene-containing compounds caused cancer.
Christina L. Dearien and Thomas G. Dearien filed a complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Union Carbide Corp., The Dow Chemical Co., New River Trucking LLC, Univer Inc., Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corp. and AllNex USA Inc. alleging premises liability, negligence and other counts.
According to the suit, Christina L. Dearien was a member of Local 598 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and was employed by Carbide at Dow facilities from 2006 to 2018. She alleges as part of her job at the Dow facilities, she was exposed to benzene-containing compounds. The plaintiff alleges this exposure caused her to develop colorectal carcinoma, which was diagnosed in July 2017.
The plaintiffs are seeking all reasonable sums due, attorney fees and court costs. They are represented by R. Dean Hartley, Mark R. Staun and Sean X. Xing of Hartley Law Group PLLC in Wheeling and Robert V. Berthold Jr. and Robert V. Berthold III of the Berthold Law Firm in Charleston.
The case has been assigned to Judge Tera Salango.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 19-C-433