An Ohio couple has pursued legal action against a host of petrochemical companies after the husband contracted cancer, recent Galveston County court records show.
Columbus, Ohio residents Gregory and Patricia Justice filed a lawsuit in Galveston County 122nd District Court on Aug. 28, stating that BP Amoco Chemical Company, BP Corporation North America, Inc., BP Products North America, Inc. and eleven other entities are to blame for Gregory Justice developing acute myeloid leukemia in early 2014.
The suit explains that Gregory Justice was “exposed to dangerous levels of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals and substances, including but not limited to benzene, benzene-containing products, naptha, toluene, mineral spirits, petroleum distillates, solvents, paints, primers, coatings, paint thinners, lacquer thinners, and xylene, while using benzene-containing consumer products from approximately 1968 to 2003.”
It additionally lists a dozen products to which he was exposed including but not limited to Glidden-paints, oil-based enamel paints and Sherwin-Williams-paints, and oil-based enamel paints.
“The defendants are liable in their capacity for manufacturing, selling, marketing, distributing, and/or designing products that were defective, hazardous and/or carcinogenic,” the suit says. “The defendants are suppliers, manufacturers, and entities that marketed hazardous chemicals or substances.”
The Justices charge that the respondents knew of the dangers associated with the products, but “failed to adequately warn the plaintiff or people similarly situated of the dangers associated with exposure to these chemicals, products, and their components.”
Consequently, the plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
They are represented by attorneys J. Robert Black and Leah Fowler of the law firm Black Law, PC in Houston and L. Jeth Jones, II and Jared S. Robinson of The Jones Law Firm in Galveston.
Galveston County 122th District Court Case No. 15-CV-907