Secondary asbestos exposure, a serious concern for the family members of Raybestos/Raymark Industries, Inc. (Raytech) workers
People who inhabited the same living space as a Raybestos worker while the company was using asbestos are now at high risk for developing terrible diseases such as asbestosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer. Since asbestos companies were awfully lacking when it came to industrial hygiene, workers would inevitably bring home asbestos fibers on their clothes, which would later be inhaled or ingested by whoever was in proximity. This route of exposure is often referred to as secondary asbestos exposure, as those who are subjected to it do not come in direct contact with the source of contamination.
If you have a diagnosis of asbestosis, lung cancer, COPD, mesothelioma, or any other disease correlated with asbestos exposure and also lived with a family member who, at the time, was employed at Raybestos, please contact Environmental Litigation Group, P.C. at your earliest convenience. We will promptly put you in touch with one of our specialized attorneys, who will carefully evaluate your case and help you recover the compensation you deserve from the company’s asbestos trust fund, which also provides money to individuals hurt by secondary exposure. Since Raybestos has a trust fund, the legal process does not involve litigation and is usually completed within six months.
Legal assistance in wrongful death asbestos exposure cases for family members
The surviving family members of a worker who developed a disease as a result of occupational asbestos exposure but has not taken legal action during their lifetime are also eligible for compensation. With over 25 years of experience in pursuing compensation for the victims of asbestos exposure and their family members, our attorneys will help you recover the money you deserve on behalf of your loved one. While it is very complex, the legal process requires minimal involvement on your part, as the majority of the aspects, such as the claim and the documents which must accompany it, will be efficiently handled by our legal team. If you have a family member who lost their lives to a disease that was caused by workplace asbestos exposure, do not hesitate to contact our law firm for quality legal assistance. It is important to know that, because we work on a contingency fee basis, you will not have to pay anything unless we recover compensation for you.
The attempts of Raybestos to cover up the dangers of asbestos exposure
Since the beginning, the company executives of Raybestos were aware of the terrible health effects asbestos exposure could have on their employees. Nevertheless, this did not stop the company from continuing to use asbestos in their automotive products, as it was a very convenient and cheap material.
- Between 1920 and 1930, the company produced over 11 million feet of asbestos every year.
- In 1935, the President of Raybestos, Sumner Simpson, wrote a letter to the general counsel of another asbestos manufacturing company in which the issue of asbestos was brought up by discussing whether the industry should discourage the media from reporting about the risks of asbestos exposure. “Our interests are best served by having asbestosis receive the minimum of publicity”, he wrote in the letter.
- Subsequently, in 1939, the editor of the Asbestos magazine wrote a memo to Sumner Simpson, stating the following: “We understand that all this information on asbestos is to be kept confidential and that nothing should be published about asbestosis in Asbestos at present”. This memo was later used as another piece of evidence supporting the fact that the company knew about the dangers of asbestos exposure.
Finally, there are blueprints, diagrams, invoices, asbestos product packaging, depositions from leading experts, depositions of other asbestos victims throughout Pennsylvania, and medical and scientific literature from asbestos product manufacturers which stand as proof that the company was aware of the harmful effects of asbestos exposure on human health.
The Raybestos asbestos trust fund
No longer affording to pay compensation to former employees injured by asbestos exposure, the company was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1998 and subsequently create the Raytech Corporation Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust in 2001. The asbestos trust fund is one of the 60 active asbestos trust funds in the United States and provides compensation to former workers who came to develop diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma as a consequence of occupational asbestos exposure. Currently, there are $52 million available to former Raybestos or Raymark employees injured by asbestos exposure. In February 2018, the payment percentage of the asbestos trust fund was increased from 0.84% to 0.92%. Today, people who developed a disease as a result of asbestos exposure which occurred while working for Raybestos are eligible for compensation from their asbestos trust fund.
Thereby, if you had one of the following occupations while working at Raybestos during the last century and developed a disease as a result of occupational asbestos exposure, please contact our law firm immediately for a free of charge case review. After a thorough initial discussion with our attorneys, you will have to send our legal team your employment and medical records, documents that will be used as evidence to support your asbestos claim, which will be filed with the Raybestos asbestos trust fund.
The environmental contamination Raybestos is responsible for in Connecticut and Pennsylvania
Connecticut
As a result of the activity of Raybestos in Stratford, Connecticut, severe environmental contamination occurred. Thereby, people who lived in close proximity to the facility were exposed to toxic substances, including asbestos, by inhalation, skin contact, soil waste ingestion, as well as ingestion of contaminated local seafood. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, residents under the age of 25 have a high risk of developing mesothelioma and other malignant diseases as a consequence of environmental asbestos exposure. Furthermore, in 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a draft Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment along the Housatonic River which crosses Connecticut, as the company threw contaminated waste such as asbestos, lead, and copper in the water. Even though the operations of Raybestos in Connecticut ended in 1989, the restoration project, which is partly funded by the trust fund of the company, is still ongoing.
Pennsylvania
However, Raybestos also operated in Hatboro and Manheim, two cities located in Pennsylvania, where the company also caused tremendous environmental contamination. As a result, in 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency included the Hatboro site in the Superfund National Priorities List. In 2018, the same agency conducted numerous tests in Pennsylvania by monitoring the air in the areas situated near the former Raybestos facility. The site is still monitored at the moment. Raybestos manufactured products in Manheim, Pennsylvania between 1906 and 1998, which led to tremendous pollution of the air, water, and soil. In 2005, the site was added to the Brownfield Action Team program of the state, whose purpose was to clean up the contaminated areas. While the site is no longer dangerous to residents who live in close proximity, the groundwater is still being monitored.
Testimonials of former Raybestos workers
During the last century, numerous Raybestos workers were heavily exposed to asbestos on the job, as the company was specializing in a wide range of industries. As a consequence, 20% of former Raybestos workers are now struggling with a disease they developed as a result of occupational asbestos exposure. The following are only some of the testimonials of people, most of whom our clients, who worked at Raybestos and came to suffer from a terrible disease.
Edna Boston, a woman who is now 78, recalls the period of time she worked at Raybestos in Stratford, Connecticut. She remembers how dirty and dusty the work environment was, as well as how little ventilation the facility she would perform her job in had, which led to heavy asbestos exposure. “I had to fight for a blower to be put in my area. I almost got fired for it”, she says. The woman is now struggling with asbestosis as a consequence of the large number of asbestos fibers she inhaled during her job at Raybestos and she is using a tank of oxygen to alleviate her excruciating symptoms, such as chest pain and shortness of breath since asbestosis takes a heavy toll on lung function.
As a railroad mechanic, Thomas Smith was exposed to tremendous amounts of asbestos by Raybestos while maintaining and repairing a wide range of locomotive and train components. Today, at 64 years old, he is struggling with lung cancer, which is solely the consequence of asbestos exposure, as he has never smoked a cigarette in his entire life. “I had to remove asbestos insulation off various locomotive components when I was working at Raybestos and I would always be surrounded by asbestos dust”, he recalls. The healthcare and treatment he needs are very expensive and for this reason, he has recently filed a claim with the asbestos trust fund of the company to recover the compensation he deserves.
William Miller worked as a mechanic for Raybestos between 1934 and 1956. He was heavily exposed to asbestos on the job, as he would have to maintain and repair automotive components manufactured with asbestos. Nowadays, he struggles with pleural mesothelioma as a result of occupational asbestos exposure, which is the most serious cancer asbestos exposure can lead to. “We were never told that asbestos could have such devastating effects on our health back in the day”, he says. The man is one of our clients, whom our attorneys have efficiently helped recover fair compensation from Raybestos for his terrible diagnosis.
As a welder, Sam Anderson was also exposed to asbestos on the job while working for Raybestos. Because welding rods used to be manufactured with asbestos, every time he performed his work tasks, toxic dust would be released in the air, which is how he inhaled and ingested it. He has been employed at Raybestos for 7 years and has recently developed asbestosis as a consequence of workplace asbestos exposure. “Every time I would use welding rods, asbestos dust came off them and we were not given any protective gear to prevent exposure”, he remembers. The disease he struggles with affects his daily life to a great extent, as he experiences shortness of breath, a chronic cough, fatigue, and chest pain.
Another former employee of Raybestos, who worked for the company between 1943 and 1949, is Chris Olson, who came to develop peritoneal mesothelioma as a result of occupational asbestos exposure. His job was maintenance mechanic, which meant that he would have to disassemble and reassemble automotive components manufactured with asbestos which, when disturbed, would release a great number of toxic fibers in the air. He recalls that “asbestos was so common at Raybestos that no one was questioning whether it was safe or not”. Our attorneys have also helped him recover the compensation he deserved for his terrible diagnosis by filing a claim with the asbestos trust fund of Raybestos.
Donald Brown was a shipyard worker at Raybestos during the last century, having held down his job for 5 years. As a result, he came to suffer from lung cancer, which is partly the consequence of workplace asbestos exposure, as he was also a smoker. He was responsible for repairing car and truck brakes, which were manufactured with asbestos at the time. Thereby, every time he would perform his work, asbestos fibers became airborne and he would inhale and ingest the carcinogenic mineral from the air. “We were never told that asbestos was toxic, although I found out that Raybestos knew about the diseases it could cause”, he says.
James Rodriguez worked as a factory employee for Raybestos between 1928 and 1943. His exposure to asbestos was so severe that he has recently developed asbestosis as a result of the asbestos dust he would constantly inhale on the job. The disease he struggles with today renders him unable to perform numerous daily activities, as he experiences constant shortness of breath, a persisting cough, and fatigue. “I would have never imagined that working for Raybestos, which was a renowned company at the time, would cause me so much physical distress”, he says. He is also one of our clients, whom our skillful attorneys have provided with legal assistance to recover the money he needs to receive treatment.
As a boiler worker, John Davis was heavily exposed to asbestos while working for Raybestos between 1927 and 1938. Today, he struggles with lung cancer, which is the result of asbestos exposure only, since he was never a smoker. “The effects asbestos can have on your health are unimaginable. I would have never thought that by working at Raybestos I would develop such a serious disease”, he says. Since boilers would contain numerous components manufactured with asbestos during the last century, John Davis was inevitably exposed to the dangerous mineral and now has a disease that may end up claiming his life.
Benjamin Wilson was employed at Raybestos as a shipyard worker between 1934 and 1950. Since there were over 300 asbestos products on military ships during the last century, his asbestos exposure was very serious, which is why today, he struggles with pleural mesothelioma. “The only good thing about mesothelioma is that my physician found it when it was in the early phases. I had a surgery to remove the cancerous tumors and now I’m receiving chemotherapy once every two weeks”, he says. Because he needed more money to afford the treatment necessary for his disease, Benjamin Wilson contacted our attorneys, who recovered over $1 million from Raybestos on his behalf by filing a claim with their asbestos trust fund.
Sheila Thompson worked for Raybestos as a textile manufacturer between 1943 and 1948. Today, she is struggling with lung cancer, which is solely the consequence of occupational asbestos exposure, as she was never a smoker. “We had to sew asbestos fibers into various fabrics at the textile mill of Raybestos, which created a lot of toxic dust around us. To make matters worse, the facility also had poor ventilation”, she recalls. Asbestos was used in textiles during the last century to make the fabric resistant to fire since the mineral is fireproof. The woman received fair compensation for her disease from the asbestos trust fund of Raybestos 2 years ago.