Bryan Blevins
Even though Provost Umphrey attorney Brian Blevins is busy trying a million dollar asbestos case in Judge Sanderson's 60th District Court, he still finds the time to file fresh asbestos lawsuits.
When he was alive, Thomas Holmes sued several companies and received a claim for his non-malignant asbestos-related disease. Now deceased, his benefactor, Linda Carrell, seeks compensation for a "different asbestos-related injury."
Blevins will represent Carrell and sue the A.O. Smith Corp., along with 42 other major corporations, for distributing products containing asbestos throughout Jefferson County.
Provost Umphrey is best known for organizing asbestos and benzene class-action lawsuits against chemical refineries.
Blevins filed the suit on behalf of Carrell with the Jefferson County District Court on July 10. Judge Bob Wortham, 58th Judicial District, will preside over the case.
The suit names corporations from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin to iron supplier Zurn Industries for manufacturing and distributing asbestos laced products.
A lung cancer patient, Holmes was a "heavy smoker." Medical documents attached to the suit said Holmes was a "greater than 40 pack-year smoking history and significant history of the consumption of alcoholic beverages."
The suit and medical documents stated that Holmes, a former Merchant Marine, was diagnosed with an asbestos disease in 1993. He sued and received a claim. Around the year 2005, Holmes, 64, died. His benefactor, Carrell, is now suing for a different asbestos disease.
The petition says the 43 defendants entangled in his lawsuit were negligent, failing to adequately test their asbestos-laced products before flooding the market with dangerous goods.
In addition, the petition faults Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Corp. (3M Corporation) and American Optical Corp. for producing defective masks that failed to "provide respiratory protection."
Carrell is suing for Holmes' physical pain and suffering in the past and future, mental anguish in the past and future, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, disfigurement in the past and future, physical impairment in the past and future, and past and future medical expenses.
Case No. A179-638