Two Texas women are suing the employers of their deceased husband and father, alleging his death was caused by unsafe workplace conditions.
Jacquie Herbert, surviving spouse of deceased Billy Herbert, and Terri Odom, surviving child of deceased Billy Herbert, filed a lawsuit June 23 in Jefferson County District Court against Michelin North America Inc., Huntsman Petrochemical and Synpol, Inc. alleging gross negligence.
The complaint states Billy Herbert was employed by the defendants at the former Ameripol Synpol plant in Jefferson County, from 1952 to 1997. The suit says during his employment there, he was exposed to toxic materials including asbestos dust and/or fibers, and, as a result, he developed asbestos-related diseases and asbestos-related lung cancer from which he died Nov. 27, 2014.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants were negligent in that they knew for decades asbestos-containing products could cause diseases and cancers but still allowed their employees to work with and around asbestos products.
Herbert and Odom seek exemplary damages in excess of the jurisdictional limits of this court, plus costs of the suit. They are represented by attorneys J. Keith Hyde and D'Juana Parks of Provost & Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont.
Jefferson County District Court case number A-197266.