Asbestos firms' trial postponed

Attorneys still deposing potential witnesses in case

By Steve Kemme, The Cincinnati Enquirer

The first trial of 31/2-year-old lawsuits filed by more than 800 current and former employees of AK Steel against asbestos manufacturers has been postponed for at least several weeks.

The trial was scheduled to start Aug. 18 in a Butler County Common Pleas courtroom of the new Government Services Center in Hamilton. It would have been the first court proceeding in the building, which isn't expected to open until the fall.

Attorneys in the case still have to interview potential witnesses in deposition hearings. That could push the trial into September, said visiting Judge Harry Hannah, a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge who has been assigned to the case.

AK Steel is not named as a defendant because there was no evidence company officials knew about the dangers of asbestos before the federal government outlawed its use in 1972.

Before then, American steel plants used asbestos extensively - primarily as insulation and binding material.

This first trial involves a lawsuit filed by the family of Ronald Robinson, a former AK Steel employee who died last year at age 49 of mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the lung's lining.

Mr. Robinson of Middletown worked for AK Steel, formerly known as Armco, from 1967 until he became ill several years ago.

"He died from a disease that is caused only by asbestos exposure," said Steve Wolens, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "It's horribly painful. It winds up almost suffocating a person by squeezing the lungs."

All of the 865 current and former AK Steel employees involved in the lawsuits contracted diseases related to asbestos, their attorneys say. Fifty-five of them have died since the lawsuits were filed, Mr. Wolens said.

Of the 40 asbestos manufacturers named in the lawsuits, about 30 remain in the case. Some settled with plaintiffs and others were dropped from the case because the plaintiff argued they did not contribute to the employees' illnesses.

The lawsuits contend that the asbestos manufacturers knew about the potential health dangers of their products as early as the 1930s and failed to warn anyone.

The manufacturers dispute that allegation.

The Robinson trial could face further delays. When visiting Judge George Elliott handled this case, he filed an order questioning how the plaintiffs prepared their witnesses for the case and instructing the jury to be informed about this issue.

The plaintiffs appealed the order with the 12th District Court of Appeals.

The plaintiffs will decide early next week if they will proceed with the appeal. If the plaintiffs don't drop the appeal, the case might not come to trial for six to eight months, Judge Hannah said.

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