(The following story by Shelley Rossetter appeared on the St. Petersburg Times website on February 26, 2010.)
TAMPA, Fla. — Four former employees of CSX sued the railroad company Wednesday, alleging exposure to asbestos on the job led to lung cancer.
In the lawsuit, Jerry B. Brown, James R. Givens, James Toombs and William F. Triner said that while working for CSX at locations throughout Hillsborough County during the last four decades, they were neither warned of the danger of asbestos exposure nor given ways to prevent it.
Between 2007 and 2009, all four were diagnosed with lung cancer caused by the exposure, the lawsuit filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court said.
Triner began working for CSX in 1968; the others began during the ’70s. All of them left the company within the last five years.
Each worked in a different position, but all were required to work in areas where they were “heavily exposed” to asbestos in and around the locomotives, boilers, railroad cars and various buildings and repair shops, the lawsuit said.
According to the National Cancer Institute, exposure to asbestos, which is considered a carcinogen, can cause lung cancer as well as other health issues.
Despite CSX’s knowledge of the danger, the company failed to take steps to inform its employees or provide protective equipment, the lawsuit said.
A spokesman for CSX could not be reached for comment.