An Ohio man filed an asbestos lung cancer lawsuit against a former employer over asbestos exposure. His asbestos cancer lawsuit alleges that his former employer, Norfolk Southern Railway, exposed him and other employees to asbestos, leading to long-term health consequences.

Plaintiff Jeffrey Hall worked for Norfolk Southern Railway Company from 1974 to his retirement in 2009, he claims in his asbestos lung cancer lawsuit. During this time, the company changed names several times, from Norfolk Railway and Western Railway Company, but Norfolk Southern Railway is the successor-in-interest to the earlier iterations of the company, making them liable for these earlier incarnations of the company.

His asbestos lung cancer lawsuit holds that in the course of his duties for Norfolk, he was routinely exposed to asbestos. Hall alleges that he was never informed of the health risks associated with asbestos exposure in his job, and that special protective gear was never issued.

In the summer of 2011, two years after his retirement, Hall was reportedly diagnosed with lung cancer. Lung cancer is a particularly deadly form of cancer, with poor outcomes, even among cancers.

Hall’s asbestos lung cancer lawsuit is far from unique. Asbestos was widely used, beginning in the Industrial Revolution.

Asbestos, a naturally-occurring mineral, is both a strong thermal insulator and functionally fireproof, even under industrial conditions. This made the material well-suited for use in a wide variety of applications, including construction, shipbuilding, and railways like Norfolk. However, it was soon discovered that asbestos exposure could have profound health consequences.

More than a hundred years ago, it was noted that workers in asbestos-heavy industries suffered from much higher rates of lung disease than other workers.

In the first decades of the 20th century, researchers had already documented a link between working with the mineral and serious health problems, including asbestosis, a disease of the lungs similar to emphysema or silicosis.

Insurance companies were the first to react, requiring higher premiums and decreased coverage for asbestos workers as early as 1908.

But the material was so useful, and had enough infrastructure and economic inertia that the material was still widely used in the United States well into the 1970s and 1980s, when it was ultimately banned and phased out.

Unfortunately, many of the diseases linked to asbestos exposure have long latency periods. This means that a worker exposed to asbestos might show no signs of illness for decades.

One of the most strongly-linked asbestos cancers, mesothelioma, almost never appears less than a decade and a half after asbestos exposure, and often takes even longer to appear.

To provide a frame of reference, many present-day asbestos lawsuits are being filed by shipyard workers who built U.S. Navy warships for World War II. However, other industries also produce many asbestos lung cancer lawsuits, including those who worked in mining and processing asbestos, construction workers, and railway workers.

The Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit is Jeffery L. Hall v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Case No. 3:14-CV-10000, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.