ASBESTOS EXPOSURE
OBITUARY NEWS
The owner of a successful New Orleans plating firm dies of mesothelioma

Asbestos exposure in New Orleans.

The attorneys at the personal injury law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg have decades of experience defending victims’ rights in practice areas that include: accidents/general injury, dangerous drugs, medical malpractice, and environmental pollutants.

ASBESTOS EXPOSURE NEWS UPDATE:

Sept. 2, 2009 – The founder of a multimillion-dollar industrial-plating business (whose projects included the legendary pink Cadillac once owned by New Orleans music legend Fats Domino) died last month in New Orleans of mesothelioma, a cancer almost exclusively caused by occupational asbestos exposure.

William Simmons launched Simmons Plating and Grinding Co. with a $75 loan he received from his uncle after his service in the Marine Corps during World War II.

Mr. Simmons was 84 when he died and had lived in New Orleans since the age of 5. He dropped out of high school, but took night classes to learn his trade.

He went on to develop an improved technique of electroplating that helped make Simmons Plating and Grinding Co. a multimillion-dollar enterprise, doing business with clients coast to coast that included General Electric.

After a slow start, his business grew so much that Mr. Simmons opened a second plant in Elmwood. In later years, the company developed coatings for rotating equipment, such as compressors, turbines and gears.

The truth about asbestos

Mesothelioma is caused by asbestos exposure, and it is very likely Mr. Simmons contracted the fatal cancer sometime during his business career, or even in the Marine Corps, where asbestos was generously applied to prevent fires during combat.

Notably, there is a high rate of asbestos-related mesothelioma deaths in Louisiana and in the area around New Orleans, according to the EWG Action Fund, a nonprofit environmental research group headquartered in Washington, D.C. On the organization’s list of states ranked for their instances of mesothelioma fatalities, Louisiana is No. 20.

Despite the fatal health consequences associated with asbestos, it is still imported and used in the United States for its insulation properties.

A lot of the products manufactured in the United States between World War II and the early 1980s contained asbestos. Some of the manufacturing businesses, especially those involving sheet metal, released huge amounts of asbestos fibers.

Government sources estimate that in the next decade more than 35,000 people nationwide will be diagnosed with mesothelioma, the deadliest form of asbestos-related cancers currently plaguing developed and undeveloped countries alike.

Time to seek justice . . .

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and seek a free review of your eligibility to receive compensation, please notify us through the communication form at left.

We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, lost wages, and suffering. Weitz & Luxenberg works on a contingency basis, so there is no cost to you until we win a financial verdict or settlement in your favor.