An Illinois woman has filed a workplace asbestos exposure lawsuit against her former employers claiming that her working environments exposed her to dangerous levels of asbestos.

Plaintiff Marguerite D. has filed this workplace asbestos exposure lawsuit against Albany International Corp., Alfa Laval Inc. and Armstrong International. She was employed at each of these employers and others over a period of twenty years.

She is suing these companies on the count of negligence.

According to her workplace asbestos exposure lawsuit, Marguerite alleges that during the time she was employed at these different companies from 1968 to 1988, she was exposed to dangerous amounts of asbestos.

She claims that she inhaled asbestos fibers from the products that were manufactured by Albany International Corp., Alfa Laval Inc. and Armstrong International and that she came into contact with them. Because of this, she claims, those employers were negligent in protecting her.

It wasn’t until 2016, however, that she was diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer. She did not know that the products she was coming into contact with could be the cause of asbestos lung cancer almost fifty years later.

According to her workplace asbestos exposure lawsuit, the plaintiff is holding her former employers responsible for her condition because they negligently included asbestos and asbestos fibers in their products. She claims that there were other suitable alternatives available and that they should have used these alternatives.

Marguerite alleges that the companies failed to provide the necessary warnings to her regarding her workplace asbestos exposure and that they did not give her adequate instructions about working safely with asbestos or with products that contained asbestos.

This Workplace Asbestos Exposure Lawsuit is Case No. 17-L-404 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Workplace Asbestos Exposure

Many employees who either handle products or materials that contain asbestos or work in industries where asbestos is common may experience workplace asbestos exposure.

Workplace asbestos exposure is the most common type of asbestos exposure. Even family members of workers can experience workplace asbestos exposure if they handle clothing or laundry of the employee or breathe in asbestos fibers that attach themselves to the worker.

Asbestos is a mineral that is found in the earth and has been mined and processed because of its fire retardant and insulation properties. It was commonly used in domestic construction, in the military and in industries such as railroads and shipping.

In the 1980s, the use of asbestos began to be regulated and now, many regulations are in place for the use of asbestos as well as its abatement when working with buildings that formerly contained asbestos materials.

Now, most companies place the safety of its workers as paramount and provide safety equipment and training on how to safely work with asbestos products. However, many workers experienced workplace asbestos exposure long before these safety procedures were in place.

Additionally, lung cancer and mesothelioma related to workplace asbestos exposure can take decades to show up, as in Marguerite’s case, and often it is too late.

If you or someone you love has experienced workplace asbestos exposure, you may be entitled to legal compensation.