Erie man files asbestos mass tort claim in Phila. Common Pleas Court

A 62-year-old man from northwestern Pennsylvania alleges in a newly filed

mass tort claim that his January 2012 lung cancer diagnosis was due to his working around asbestos-containing products for a number of years beginning in the 1960s.

Lloyd J. Baldwin and his wife, Joyce Baldwin, of Erie, Pa., filed suit in Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court on Aug. 7 against close to 30 companies that dealt in products containing asbestos.

The list of defendants includes, but is not limited to, Certainteed Corp., DAP Inc., Ford Motor Co., General Electric, Georgia Pacific, Honeywell International, Owens-Illinois, Pfizer, Sears Roebuck and Co., and Union Carbide Corp.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed as a short-form complaint in the master Asbestos Litigation docket in Common Pleas Court, Lloyd Baldwin became exposed to asbestos while working as a machinist, laborer and deliveryman beginning in the 1960s.

The plaintiff was also allegedly exposed to asbestos dust and fibers while performing home renovations and doing automotive work.

As a deliveryman, Baldwin was exposed to asbestos from loading and unloading a variety of asbestos-containing products including shingles and rolled roofing materials.

While working as a laborer and machinist, the suit says, Baldwin was exposed to asbestos while working around other people who worked on boilers, pumps and valves.

Baldwin also became exposed to asbestos while performing those very same tasks, according to the complaint.

In the course of his automotive work, the plaintiff was exposed to asbestos while working with brakes, clutches, mufflers and gaskets, the suit states, and while performing home renovations Baldwin was exposed to asbestos when he came into contact with construction materials such as insulation, drywall, joint compound, caulk, floor tiles, ceiling tiles and paint.

Baldwin had purchased the materials and supplies from a variety of lumberyards and retail stores, the suit states.

On Jan. 23 of last year, Baldwin was diagnosed with lung cancer by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic.

A health history shows that Baldwin smoked about one pack of cigarettes per day from 1966 to 2010.

The Baldwins seeks unspecified damages.

The plaintiffs are being represented by mass tort attorney Tia Dinh of the Cherry Hill, N.J. firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

The case ID number is 130800379.