BELLEVILLE — A man and his wife have filed a lawsuit in St. Clair County Circuit Court claiming negligence in the asbestos-related cancer diagnosis he received last year.
William and Marilyn Neal filed the lawsuit on March 29. According to court documents, the lawsuit names a number of defendants, including Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.; Armstrong Pumps Inc.; AT&T Corp.; Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC; CBS Corp.; Certain-Teed Corp.; Crown Cork & Seal; Dow Chemical Co.; FlowServe US Inc.; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; 3M Co.; Union Carbide Corp.; Uniroyal Inc. and others.
William Neal served in the Army National Guard from 1961 to 1968. He also worked as a machinist at AT&T from 1963 to 1988.
According to the complaint, Neal alleges that he was exposed to and inhaled, ingested or absorbed large amounts of asbestos fibers emanating from products he was working with and around that were produced, sold or distributed by the defendants named in the lawsuit.
The complaint also alleges that the manufacturers of asbestos-containing products failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of Neal and others.
According to the complaint, Neal was diagnosed with lung cancer on April 21, 2016. He later learned the disease was wrongfully caused, the suit alleges.
The suit claims that as a result of his diagnosis, Neal is forced to endure pain and mental anguish as a result of his contact with asbestos and the resulting lung cancer. It also contends that he has incurred medical bills while seeking treatment and has lost income as a result of the illness.
The complaint also alleges conspiracy against Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., claiming that the company conducted research and knew the dangers of asbestos but failed to release that information to the public.
According to the complaint, Metropolitan began covering up asbestos information as early as the 1930s, when it allegedly altered a study on the impact of asbestos on miners.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek compensatory damages in excess of $50,000 on nine different counts. They are represented by Randy L. Gori and Barry Julian of Gori Julian & Associates PC in Edwardsville.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 17-L-164