Lehigh Valley Pa. woman files asbestos mass tort claim on behalf of deceased husband

The widow of a deceased Lehigh Valley man who died at the end of 2011, a year-and-a-half after being diagnosed with asbestosis, has filed a mass tort claim against companies that deal in the manufacture and distribution of asbestos-containing products.

Attorney Michael B. Leh, of the Philadelphia-based Locks Law Firm, filed the civil action April 24 at Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Janice M. Martz, who resides in Fleetwood, Pa., just outside of Kutztown.

Martz is suing on behalf of her deceased husband, Frank E. Martz, who was 78 years old when he died back on Dec. 24, 2011 due to respiratory failure linked to his asbestosis, with which he had been diagnosed as having in early May 2010.

The lawsuit claims that Martz’s asbestosis was a direct and proximate result of his exposure to asbestos and a contributing factor to his death.

Martz, who was also a pack-a-day smoker from 1945 to 2010, was exposed to asbestos when he served in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956. He worked out of the Navy shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. aboard the USS Meredith and the USS Sumner, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also claims Martz was exposed to the asbestos fiber from 1964 to 1978 while working as a maintenance mechanic at the Alcoa Aluminum plant in Cressona, Pa.

The 10 defendants named in the lawsuit are as follows: CBS Corp., Certainteed Corp., Dana Companies LLC, Foster-Wheeler Corp., General Electric Corp., Georgia Pacific Corp., Goulds Pumps Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Co., Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., and Owens-Illinois Inc.

The plaintiff seeks damages as set forth in the master asbestos litigation at Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court.

 

The case ID number is 120402832.