More than 100 class action suits threaten the future of family business

"Lawsuits around in this country right now, if it keeps going on the way it is, it will just devastate the country and the economy. The economy's already bad, and it would make it worse."

Mike Carter
Monroe, Louisiana

In the last five years, Monroe Rubber and Gasket -- a family business in Monroe, Louisiana -- has been sued in more than 100 asbestos suits by over 2000 plaintiffs. More than a decade ago, the business ordered a material containing encapsulated asbestos for customers who requested it. Encapsulated asbestos fibers are treated with a coating intended to prevent airborne release. The materials Monroe Rubber and Gasket handled are still legal, and tests showed that no harmful dust had been released into the air.

But that did not stop Monroe Rubber and Gasket from being sued. "I didn't quite understand why we were receiving these [lawsuits] based on what we do here," said owner Mike Carter.

Over the past five years, asbestos class action and mass action lawsuits have become notorious for fraud and abuse. Judges and others have exposed scams by which plaintiffs' lawyers conduct assembly line mass medical screenings, lump hundreds of healthy people into a class with only a few sick plaintiffs, and sometimes falsify medical diagnoses. A number of fraudulent medical screeners have even been banned from work on these cases.

Now that many companies responsible for asbestos are bankrupt, plaintiffs' lawyers are filing lawsuits against businesses like Monroe Rubber and Gasket that neither produced nor were end-users of asbestos products.

Like in many asbestos suits, nearly all of the people claiming that they were injured by Monroe Rubber and Gasket are healthy. Plaintiffs' lawyers often bundle claims from a few asbestosis/mesothelioma patients with many other healthy plaintiffs in order to leverage greater settlements.

Mike Kosik, the manager of Monroe Rubber and Gasket, said, "We're all sympathetic to the people who actually have the disease. The ones that we don't like are the ones that, 'OK, I was around it. Put my name on the list. Get me whatever you can.'"

Carter's business employs dozens of people, including several of his family members and close friends. If Monroe Rubber and Gasket continues to accrue legal costs, all of them will lose their jobs. "This could take us out of business," said Carter. "It's just kind of sad because I've got a group of people here that work with me. And it's their livelihoods on the line."

"If just one of these lawsuits do get through, we'll all be without a job."

Part of the FacesOfLawsuitAbuse.org campaign.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• asbestos
• mesothelioma
• class
• action
• mass
• lawsuits
• lawyers
• abuse
• legal
• small
• business
• plaintiffs
• economy
• iamlawsuitabuse.org
• facesoflawsuitabuse.org

[akor45]

@angelahk28f asbestos is legal is some automotive applications, such as brakes and gaskets.

[angelahk28f]

They stopped using asbestos AFTER the ban. Was I the only one that caught that?

[AbbeyAndJessi]

Quit crying! Just settle with is and get it over with!

[SexSteakSoda]

Just a bunch of people who want a handout, typical in the south.

[blogegog]

It makes no sense that a company that operates in good faith should get sued for using a (probably bad) product. They didn't know, and they wouldn't have done it if they did.

Americans use tons of stuff that is bad for us that we're unaware of (PCB's come to mind), but as soon as we know that they're toxic, we stop using them.

I'm fine with prosecuting someone who uses known toxic chemicals... In fact, I expect it. But I'm not ok with prosecuting previously unknown threats.

[dwalfrid]

OK sorry i got the wrong end of the stick.

[roussel]

not employees, customers, read the description on the right man.

[dwalfrid]

I'm a bit sceptical, if your company used asbestos- and former employees have asbestosis then I'd like to see proof of your claim that it wasn't working with your company that did it. A bit of emotional blackmail doesn't wash i'm afraid.