West Virginia Asbestos Shakedowns May Hit New High (or Low)

Eight new asbestos lawsuits filed in Kanawha County each name 190 defendants in what may be an all time high (or low, depending on one’s point of view), even in one of the more scandalous Judicial Hellholes, West Virginia.

According to the West Virginia Record, 15 plaintiffs collectively filed eight asbestos claims earlier this month.  They are “seeking jury trials to resolve all issues involved” and “are being represented by David P. Chervenick, Bruce E. Mattock and Scott S. Segal.”

No one opposes just compensation for those who have been sickened by asbestos.  But apparently it’s become to much to ask of plaintiffs to be at least somewhat precise when asserting claims of liability.  Of course, if they were more precise, it’s at least possible that respective defendants might then be less inclined to settle and more inclined to fight on in court, especially if they had reason to believe their products and past practices played no role at all in the plaintiffs’ exposure to asbestos.  But then the plaintiffs’ lawyers would stand to pocket far less cash, which really explains the essence of such inflated shakedowns.    

The Record reports that the 190 defendants named in the suit are:

 20th Century Glove Corporation of Texas; 4520 Corp., Inc.; Air & Liquid Systems Corporation; Ajax Magnethermic Corporation; Alliance Machine Company; Allied Glove Corporation; Ametek, Inc.; Anderson Greenwood & Co.; Andritz, Inc.; Armstrong International, Inc.; Armstrong Pumps, Inc.; Ashland, Inc.; Atlas Industries, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Bayer Corporation; Bayer Cropscience, Lp; Beazer East, Inc.; Bechtel Corporation; Borg-Warner Corporation; Bp Amoco Chemical Company; Bp Products North America, Inc.; Brand Insulations, Inc.; Burnham Holdings, Inc.; Cabot Corporation; Cameron International Corporation; Canadianoxy Offshore Production Company; Cashco, Inc.; Catalytic Construction Company; CBS Corporation; Century Aluminum Company; Certainteed Corporation; Chevron U.S.A., Inc.; the Cincinnati Gasket, Packing & Mfc, Inc.; Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.; Columbian Chemicals Company; Columbus McKinnon Corporation; Cooper Industries, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Coppus Turbines; Corbesco, Inc.; Crane Company, Inc.; Dana Corporation; Degussa Corporation; Dezurik, Inc.; Dow Chemical Company; Dravo Corporation; E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company; Eaton Corporation; Eichleay Corporation; F.B. Wright Company; the Fairbanks Company; Fairmont Supply Company; Flowserve U.S., Inc., and its Byron Jackson Pump Division; Flowserve U.S., Inc., F/K/A Flowserve Fsd Corporation, F/K/A/ Durametallic Corp.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., F/K/A Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve U.S., Inc., F/K/A Flowserve FSD Corporation, as successor to Edward Valves, Inc.; Flowserve U.S., Inc., F/K/A Flowserve FSD Corporation, as successor to Valtek International; Flsmidth Inc.; Flsmidth Dorr-Oliver Eimco, Inc.; Flsmidth Salt Lake City, Inc.; Fluor Constructors International; FMC Corporation; Foseco, Inc.; Foster Wheeler, LLC; Fuller Company; the Gage Company; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; General Refractories Company; General Technologies, Inc.; Gentex Corporation; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Graybar Electric Company, Inc.; Greene Tweed & Co.; Grinnell LLC; Gulf Oil Corporation; H.E. Neumann Company; Hercules Chemical Company, Inc.; Hinchliffe & Keener, Inc.; Hoechst Celanese Chemical Group, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; Howden North America, Inc.; Hunter Sales Corporation; Huntsman International LLC; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Industrial Rubber Products; Ingersoll-Rand Company; Insul Company, Inc.; International Systems and Controls Corporation; ITT Corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company; Jabo Supply Corporation; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; Jno J. Disch Company; John Crane, Inc.; Joseph T. Ryerson & Son, Inc.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Katy Industries, Inc.; Kelly Moore Paint Company; Kentile Floors, Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corporation; M.S. Jacobs & Associates, Inc.; Magnetek, Inc.; Mallinckrodt LLC; Manitowoc Company, Inc.; McCarls, Inc.; McJunkin Redman Corporation; Meadwestvaco Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliance, Inc.; Minnotte Contracting Corporation; Mobil Corporation; Monongahela Power Company; Morgan Engineering Systems, Inc.; Mueller Steam Specialty; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; National Services Industries, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Occidental Chemical Corporation; Oglebay Norton Company; Osram Sylvania, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Parker-Hannifin Corp.; Parker-Hannifin Corporation; Peerless Industries, Inc.; Pennzoil-Quaker State Company; Pharmacia Corporation; Plotkin Brothers Supply, LLP; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Potomac Edison Company; Power Piping Company; PPG Industries, Inc.; Premier Refractories, Inc.; Reading Crane; Research-Cottrell, Inc.; Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company, Inc.; Riley Power, Inc.; Robinson Fans, Inc.; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Roper Pump Company; Rust Constructors, Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction, Inc.; Safety First Industries, Inc.; the Sager Corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; Seco/Warwick Corporation; Shell Oil Company; Simakas Company, Inc.; S.P. Kinney Engineers, Inc.; Spirax Sarco, Inc.; SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sullair Corporation; Sunbeam Products, Inc.; Sundyne Corporation; SVI Corporation; Taco, Inc.; Tasco Insulation, Inc.; Team Industrial Services, Inc.; Townsend & Bottom, Inc.; Trane U.S., Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc.; Trans-Pumps, Inc. of Pittsburgh; UB West Virginia, Inc.; Unifrax Corporation; Union Carbide Corporation; United Conveyor Corporation; United States Steel Corporation; Universal Refractories Corporation; Viacom Inc.; Viking Pump, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; Warren Pumps, Inc.; Washington Group International; Waste Management, Inc.; Watson McDaniel Company; Weil-McLain Company; West Penn Power Company; Whiting Corporation; the William Powell Company; WTI Rust Holdings, Inc.; Wyeth Holdings Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC.

Kanawha Circuit Court case numbers: 12-C-8, 12-C-9, 12-C-10, 12-C-11, 12-C-12, 12-C-13, 12-C-14, 12-C-15, 12-C-16