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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Suit blames 60 companies for man's asbestos-related death

Bryan Blevins

While he was alive, Barney Tompkins sued and received a claim for his asbestos-related disease. Now deceased, Tompkins' family is seeking compensation for the "different malignant asbestos-related injury" that ended his life.

Provost Umphrey attorney Bryan Blevins filed suit on Tompkins behalf against the A.O. Smith Corp. and 59 other companies. The suit was filed in the Jefferson County District Court on Jan. 10.

In the suit, Blevins alleges that the A.O. Smith Corp. and 59 other companies knowingly and maliciously manufactured and distributed asbestos-containing products throughout Jefferson County.

Tompkins worked as a welder for various employers," which caused him to suffer from…industrial dust diseases caused by breathing the asbestos-containing products," the suit said.

The suit alleges the defendants in the lawsuit were negligent for failing to adequately test their asbestos-laced products before flooding the market with dangerous goods and for failing to warn the consumer of the dangers of asbestos exposure.

Some of the defendants listed in the suit include aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, Union Carbide Corp. and iron supplier Zurn Industries.

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.

Although Tompkins has already sued and received a claim, the suit says, "Plaintiff now seeks damages against defendants not released in the previous actions pursuant to Pustejovsky v. Rapid-American Corp."

In the precedent-setting Pustejovsky opinion in 2000, the Texas Supreme Court held that a victim of asbestos may later have a second lawsuit for an asbestos-related cancer if he develops the cancer at a future date. The opinion overrules a long history of Texas cases holding that a person may only bring one lawsuit for an asbestos-related injury, even if he develops a second, catastrophic asbestos-related cancer at a much later date.

"The court must apply a separate accrual rule in these cases because a single action rule would forbid a second suit and in doing so force the asbestos plaintiff to file premature litigation on speculative claims, which the court in Pustejovsky notes is neither efficient or desirable," the suit said.

Tompkins family is suing for exemplary damages, plus 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.

Judge Donald Floyd, 172nd Judicial District, has been assigned to the case.

Case No. E181-002

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