After years of working as a welder, boilermaker, and insulator at Avondale Shipyards and multiple Shell oil facilities, Henry Vicknair of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, was diagnosed with lung cancer related to asbestos exposure. The federal lawsuit he filed accuses multiple companies of negligence, premises liability, and other wrongs that led to his occupational exposure to the mineral’s deadly fibers.
Asbestos Lung Cancer Victim Worked on Ships and Inside Oil Refinery Tanks
From 1967 through 1968, the asbestos lung cancer victim worked as a welder on ships under construction at Avondale Shipyards. In that environment, he worked near others whose work sent high levels of asbestos fibers into the air. Mr. Vicknair inhaled the floating particles and was further exposed by those that settled on his clothing and body.
Beyond his shipyard work, Mr. Vicknair also worked for Brown and Root/Turner Industries and was contracted to Shell facilities in Geismar, Convent, and Norco, Louisiana. His duties at the refineries included cleaning crude oil out of tanks and performing labor as a roustabout, boilermaker, and insulator, repairing boilers and insulating pipes. All of this work exposed him to asbestos-containing materials, including Bridgestone gaskets and Flowserve valves. He also worked alongside third-party insulation contractors from Basic Industries and Anco Insulation and was further exposed to asbestos in replacement brake parts when changing brake drums and brake shoes on several Ford trucks and sedans.
Asbestos Lung Cancer Linked to Years of Occupational Exposure
As a direct result of inhaling asbestos fibers during this work, Mr. Vicknair contracted asbestos lung cancer—an incurable and often terminal cancer caused by asbestos exposure. His illness was diagnosed in November 2025, nearly six decades after his initial exposure. Because of the characteristic long latency period between asbestos exposure and the development of cancer, he didn’t have symptoms or identify his injuries until less than one year before filing his lawsuit.
The asbestos lung cancer’s federal lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana and names 19 defendants, including Huntington Ingalls (successor to Avondale Industries shipyard), Shell USA, Turner Industries, and many other asbestos manufacturers and suppliers. His claim alleges that the defendants knew or should have known through industry and medical studies about the dangers of the asbestos-containing products they were selling and using, yet they failed to warn him of the dangers.
He is seeking compensation or past, present, and future medical costs, lost earnings, pain and suffering, disability, loss of quality of life, and other damages resulting from his asbestos-caused lung cancer, asserting that those damages are the result of the defendants’ negligence in failing to provide warnings about the hazardous conditions, failing to provide safe premises and adequate safety equipment, failing to measure asbestos dust levels in the workplace, and failing to warn him about the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related diseases.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with asbestos lung cancer or mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can help. Contact us at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.
