Our client went to work as a laborer at Bethlehem Steel in 1956. In a short time, he became a bricklayer and a member of the United Steel Workers. The plaintiff worked throughout the Bethlehem Steel facility, including the Coke Oven Division, the Open Hearths, the Basic Oxygen Furnace, the Strip Mills, the Bar Mills and the Blast Furnaces. As a bricklayer, his work frequently involved relining the ovens and the furnaces and working in close proximity to outside contractors applying asbestos-containing insulation to steam pipes and other hot surfaces. The plaintiff left his work at Bethlehem Steel in 1971. He worked as a truck driver for the next thirty years before retiring.
The plaintiff was in generally excellent health until the fall of 2008, when he began to experience bloating and discomfort. His symptoms persisted through the spring of 2009, and he was ultimately referred to a surgeon for exploratory surgery. The results of his biopsy were diagnostic for mesothelioma, and he came to Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford for legal representation very shortly thereafter.
We immediately began a lawsuit against a large group of manufacturers and distributors of asbestos-containing products used at the steel plant. Fortunately, by the summer of 2010 we were able to resolve all of our client’s claims for approximately $1.3 Million.
Due to his strong constitution and the fact that he lived a very healthy life, our client is alive and able to enjoy the time remaining to him. It has been a privilege for us to represent this man who spent his entire adult life working hard and caring for his family. A widower with four adult children, he served his country as a Marine in the Reserves from 1953 to 1960.
Both of the plaintiff’s parents lived to see the age of ninety. Due to his diagnosis, it is unlikely that the plaintiff will enjoy such longevity.