Bricklayer, Mechanic File Suit

September 2, 2006 - Two West Virginia men involved in very different jobs have both filed suit claiming to have developed mesothelioma due to on-the-job exposure to asbestos.

The first, Mr. John T. Rudez and his wife Rosemary, are filing a suit against 37 defendants.  The Rudez’s claim that John was sickened due to asbestos inhalation at his job as a bricklayer at various locations including steel mills and power plants in both West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  He worked as a bricklayer for more than 40 years and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005.

Among the defendants named in the Rudez suit are:  U.S. Steel Homestead; Clairton; Donora; Edgar Thompson; Irgin, Coke and Chemical; Duquesne Works: J&L Hazelwood and South Side; Youngstown Sheet and Tube; General Electric; Glenshaw Glass Co.; Hussey Cooper; Shenango Steel Co.; Duquesne Light at the Elrama Plant; Wheeling Steel; Weirton Steel.

Dorcas Burdette filed suit on behalf of the estate of George Young, who died of mesothelioma this past June.  According to a report in the West Virginia Record, Young worked as a mechanic at Charleston's Gasoline Alley Garage before owning and operating Young's TV Service from 1954-1985.

The defendants in the Young case include:  A&I Co. of South Charleston; Anchor Packing Co. of North Carolina; Atlas Industries of Pennsylvania; A.W. Chesterton Co. of Massachusetts; Georgia-Pacific Corp. of Georgia; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. of New York; Owens-Illinois of Ohio; Viacom of Pennsylvania; and Vimasco Corp. of Nitro.

Burdette’s complaint states that "the plaintiff, during the course of his employment as aforesaid, was required to handle and use asbestos products supplied to the plaintiff by the defendant corporations and was required to and did remove asbestos insulation from piping and other sources."