Asbestos exposure in the Navy had led to mesothelioma, claims a man who details years of contact with the carcinogen.

Plaintiff Michael L. and his wife accuse General Electric Company and many other named corporations of allowing Michael to be exposed to years of airborne asbestos dust.

His asbestos exposure in the Navy included his time as a machinist mate from 1963 to 1969 while aboard the USS Forrestal, the USS Wasp, and the USS Tallahatchie County. In addition, he worked as an insulator in Massachusetts and Connecticut from 1969 to 1977. He also was an operator and insulation supervisor at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in the late 1970s. That same decade, he renovated his home, which he alleges further exposed him to asbestos particles.

The asbestos exposure in the Navy claim alleges, “As a direct and proximate result of the unreasonable, careless, and negligent conduct of the defendant corporations, the plaintiff … has developed mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease…”

The defendants allegedly failed to adequately warn Michael that the asbestos products were hazardous and allowed asbestos dust to “migrate through the air and upon the clothing and person of those working with or in the vicinity of such products.”

Asbestos Exposure in the Navy Names Metropolitan Life as Defendant

Pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of mesothelioma. Pleural mesothelioma starts in the mesothelial lining of the lungs, called the pleura. Nearly 75 percent of all mesothelioma cases are this type. Symptoms include shortness of breath, persistent dry cough, persistent chest pain, difficulty swallowing, night sweats/fever, and fatigue.

In Michael’s mesothelioma lawsuit, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company stands accused of engaging “in a conspiracy or concert of action to inflict injury to the plaintiff, and to withhold, alter, suppress and misrepresent information about the health effects of asbestos exposure.”

This claim stems from a 1932 study that Metropolitan Life and a Manville factory conducted that showed a large number of employees developed asbestosis, even employees that were not involved in the manufacturing process. This study was never published in medical journals, and Manville and Metropolitan allegedly worked together to hide the results.

Manville and Metropolitan allegedly went a step further by asking one of Metropolitan’s doctors to publish a study that downplayed the seriousness of asbestosis. The goal was “to influence proposed legislation to regulate asbestos exposure and to provide a defense in lawsuits,” the plaintiff claims.

For decades, Metropolitan worked in concert with manufacturers to allegedly hide the medical and scientific data that indicated the inhalation of asbestos dust and fibers would be hazardous to human health, even potentially deadly.

As a result of asbestos exposure in the Navy, Michael claims, he inhaled and ingested the carcinogenic fibers. As a machinist mate, his work included construction and maintenance of ships intended to be used as Naval vessels.

Since being diagnosed with mesothelioma, he has faced mounting medical bills, a dramatically reduced life expectancy, endured mental and physical pain and suffering, and experienced a reduced enjoyment of life.

Michael’s Asbestos Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-11004 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.