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St. Clair County Woman Files Mesothelioma Lawsuit

Belleville, IL – A woman from St. Clair County is suing more than 30 corporations over claims that the defendants were negligent in exposing employees to hazardous asbestos products.

Janet Cline, a Washington (IL) resident, filed multiple suits on 2nd June in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County in Illinois against the companies. Cline alleges that the defendant corporations were negligent in exposing employees to cancer-causing asbestos fibers without giving them sufficient warnings or providing them with adequate protective apparel.

The suit claims that Cline’s husband was an employee of Caterpillar Incorporated. She says her husband worked at the company between 1950 and 1990 as a machinist. According to the suit, on numerous occasions the plaintiff’s husband would work near and with dangerous asbestos and/or numerous products containing the carcinogenic mineral. The lawsuit states that Cline also suffered asbestos exposure indirectly. The secondhand asbestos exposure allegedly took place while the plaintiff handled the work clothes of her husband, which contained the hazardous mineral in the form of dust.

As a result of secondary exposure to dangerous asbestos fibers almost on a daily basis, the plaintiff claims that she contracted mesothelioma, an incurable cancer affecting the mesothelial cells. Doctors diagnosed Cline with malignant mesothelioma on 21st May, according to the suit. The plaintiff says she is now living with the fear of death because mesothelioma is always deadly. The only known cause for mesothelioma is exposure to or ingestion / inhalation of asbestos particles. Medical experts say mesothelioma typically kills its victims within a year of diagnosis.

The suit claims that the companies could have easily known regarding the exposure of their employees to dangerous asbestos. The companies also should have known of the hazards of occupational exposure to asbestos fibers, the suit claims. Despite being aware of the hazards, the company negligently failed to warn employees of the risks and to provide the workers with sufficient respiratory and other protections, the suit states.

Additionally, Cline has filed the counts such as evidence spoliation, citing the defendant companies’ possession of some documents linked to asbestos products and illegal disposal of those documents. According to the suit, Pneumo Abex and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company – two businesses named as defendants in this case – conspired with other companies manufacturing asbestos for withholding information about the dangers of asbestos.

In her complaint, Cline is seeking more than $50,000 in compensatory damages, in addition to court costs.