Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 3, 1990 TAG: 9003032841
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
A nine-member jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke on Friday found in favor of Celotex Corp., H.K. Porter Inc. and GAF Corp., all of Delaware; Keene Corp. of New York; and T&N Corp. of Manchester, England, ending a two-week trial.
NW had sought five-sixths of the more than $700,000 it paid out.
The 11 workers' cases are among 89 employee claim settlements for which the railway is seeking reimbursement from the manufacturers. NW consolidated the 89 claims in its lawsuit and the claims are being tried in blocks grouped by common evidence.
NW sued the manufacturers in 1988 in an effort to recoup some of more than $3 million it paid out in settlements in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Most of the workers who sued NW in 1983 were employed during the steam era, when large amounts of asbestos were used to insulate locomotive boilers. The asbestos fiber was made into a mud and spread by hand over the boilers.
The workers charged that the railway knew asbestos was dangerous and failed to provide a safe work area and to adequately warn workers of the danger. They also accused the manufacturers of negligence.
Some of the claims were settled out of court.
by CNB