Northeast Phila. couple files asbestos mass tort claim in state court

A couple from Northeast Philadelphia has filed a mass tort asbestos claim in state court

alleging the husband’s pulmonary asbestosis diagnosis this past spring was directly attributable to his working around the fiber throughout the years.

James A. Lee and Jeanne Vickers, a husband and wife who reside in the city’s Frankford section, claim in their mass tort complaint that Lee, 67, was diagnosed as having pulmonary asbestosis on April 19 of this year as a result of having worked around asbestos during his job as a plasterer and other positions.

Lee’s employment history, which is provided in the short-form complaint, shows he worked as a plasterer in the Plasterers’ Union Local #8 from 1959 to 1992.

Lee also worked as a mechanic and gas pumper for the ESSO Gas Station from 1963 to 1965 and as a maintenance worker at Albert Einstein Medical Center from 1992 to 2011.

The lawsuit states that Lee was additionally exposed to asbestos while performing non-occupational vehicle maintenance and home improvement work throughout the years.

The civil action, filed as a short-form complaint in the master asbestos litigation July 20 at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Philadelphia attorney Edward M. Nass, names more than 25 defendants.

They include, but are not limited to, Honeywell International, American Biltrite Inc., Borg-Warner Corp., Brand Insulation Inc., Pfizer Inc., PECO Energy Corp., DAP Inc., Foster Wheeler Corp., Georgia Pacific, Rohm & Haas Co. and Sunoco Inc.

The plaintiffs seek damages as set forth in the master asbestos litigation.

 

The case ID number is 120702778.