California couple files asbestos lawsuit

A California couple has filed a mass tort personal injury lawsuit at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for injuries the male plaintiff is alleged to have sustained after working with asbestos.

The lawsuit was filed June 2 by Philadelphia attorney David Halpern of the firm Brookman, Rosenberg, Brown & Sandler on behalf of Richard and Carleen Smedley of Carlsbad, Calif.

The main defendant listed in the complaint is Air & Liquid Systems Corp., as a successor by merger to Buffalo Pumps Inc.

A long list of defendants involved in the manufacture or distribution of asbestos related products follows in the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, Richard Smedley, who court documents indicate is 61 years old, had long been exposed to asbestos during his working career.

He was employed as a laborer/maintenance worker for a couple years in the early 1960s at the Container Corp. of America in the Manayunk section of Northwest Philadelphia, a neighborhood that at one time was a major industrial leader.

In early June 2009, Richard Smedley was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a condition that affects the lining of the lungs.

Smedley, the lawsuit states, never smoked tobacco.

The lawsuit, which doesn’t spell out the specifics of the damages sought since it was filed as what is known as a short-form complaint, is awaiting mass tort status.

The plaintiff’s have demanded a jury trial.

The case number is 110503822.