Trial Facts in Salvagno:  Asbestos Abatement

Read this section of the Salvagno case.  In this section, the facts presented at trial regarding the Salvagno's asbestos abatement company is discussed. Exposure to asbestos is known to cause serious diseases such as mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis.

Alexander and Raul Salvagno were the owners of AAR, one of the largest asbestos abatement companies in New York State. The evidence established that for 10 years the defendants directed their workers to engage in grossly illegal asbestos abatement.

From 1990 until 1999, Alex Salvagno secretly and illegally co-owned a purportedly independent laboratory, Analytical Laboratories of Albany, Inc. (ALA). The Salvagnos used the lab to defraud victims by creating fraudulent laboratory analysis results, which they used to convince clients that all asbestos had been properly removed as promised by the defendants.

Proof at trial established that illegal collusion between AAR and ALA occurred at more than 1,555 facilities throughout New York State, many of which projects also involved improper abatement. Falsification of up to 75,000 laboratory samples covered up this improper asbestos abatement, including at elementary schools, churches, hospitals, state police barracks, the New York Legislative Office Building, and other public buildings and private residences.

Witnesses, including many former AAR and ALA employees, testified to "rip and run" activities directed by the defendants that included indoor "snow storms," an euphemism for the release of large amounts of visible asbestos into the air during the removal process. Evidence established that workers were knowingly sent into asbestos "hot zones" while being encouraged to work illegally without respirators, or without sufficient replacement filters for the respirators.

Weitz & Luxenberg is a leading plaintiffs' law firm that has represented people affected by mesothelioma for over 20 years. Men and women diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure may be entitled to compensation from the companies responsible for their disease.

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