DuPont sued again following mesothelioma cancer death

Chemical giant DuPont is facing yet another asbestos-related lawsuit. This time, the plaintiff is Roger Neely, the son of former DuPont worker Lively Neely. For over twenty years, Lively Neely brought home asbestos dust on his work clothes, which Roger Neely now believes caused the death of his mother, Ruby.

Ruby Neely died earlier this year after developing mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked almost exclusively to asbestos exposure. The cancer can take decades to develop, and yet can kill within months of the onset of symptoms.

"DuPont failed to provide any type of warnings or instructions about the safe use of asbestos," said H. Douglas Nichol, the family’s attorney. "With regard to Mrs. Neely, they were allowing workers to go home with asbestos on their clothing, and didn’t provide change of clothing or showers to prevent that from happening."

The lawsuit alleges that the death of Ruby Neely was a matter of negligence, as information about the health risks associated with asbestos exposure had been known for decades prior to the 1970s. Lively Neely also died from an asbestos-related ailment, and had settled a lawsuit with the company in the 1980s. Earlier this year in Tennessee, a similar case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

According to Dan Turner with DuPont public affairs, "All DuPont sites adhere to strict applicable federal and state health and safety standards regarding asbestos…The safety and health of our employees, our neighbors and our community has, and continues to be, DuPont’s highest priority."

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 3:35 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.