WILLIAMSON —Dozens of coal miners are suing a dozen companies they claim caused them to suffer from lung diseases.
3M Company; Aearo Technologies; Aearo LLC; American Optical Corporation; Cabot CSC; Cabot Corporation; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Eastern States Mine Supply; Fairmont Mine Supply; Raleigh Mine and Industrial Supply; Marco Mine Supply; and John Doe Supply Companies 1 through 15.
The plaintiffs claim they suffered from an occupational lung disease known as Coal Workers' Pneumoconiosis and/or Silicosis, also known as Black Lung, according to a complaint filed in Mingo Circuit Court.
The defendants' dust masks were defective and caused the coal miners' injuries, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants' products were unsafe and defective, the defendants were negligent, and they breached their implied warranty.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages. They are represented by Kyle R. Salyer of Morgan Collins Yeast & Salyer and Brian Ooten of Ooten Law.
The case is assigned to Circuit Judge Miki Thompson.
Mingo Circuit Court case number: 21-C-57