Huge Asbestos Suit Costs $19K in Filing Fees

December 18, 2006 - A Missouri widow has filed suit against 187 defendants in a case in Madison County, IL that will cost more than $19,000 in filing fees.  According to an article in the Madison County Record, Kathleen Gundlach is filing on behalf of her late husband, Gregory, who was employed from 1963 to 2003 as a laborer and electrician at various locations in Missouri and Illinois and died of an asbestos-related illness almost 3 years ago.

Among the defendants in the case are names that the average person will easily recognize, including Anheuser Busch, AutoZone, Bondex, Chevron, DaimlerChrysler, Dow Chemical, Exxon, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Goodyear, Honeywell, John Crane, Mallinckrodt, The Pep Boys, Proctor and Gamble, Sears, Western Auto and 3M.

Gundlach is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $400,000, plus punitive damages in an amount deemed appropriate to punish the defendants for their alleged misconduct.

“The decedent's exposure to and inhalation, ingestion or absorption of the asbestos fibers was completely foreseeable and could or should have been anticipated by the defendants," the complaint states.

The claim also alleges that the defendants “failed to exercise ordinary care and caution for Greg's safety by including asbestos in their products even though it was completely foreseeable that people working with and around asbestos would inhale, ingest or otherwise absorb great amounts of asbestos.”

Mr. Gundlach was diagnosed with mesothelioma in December 2003 and died just three months later in February 2004.