A-Best Products Company manufactured and sold safety products that were designed to protect the wearer from high heat, flame, and dangerous chemicals. Though the wearers of A-Best Products industrial gloves, aprons, and other accessories thought that the items were keeping them from harm, the asbestos that they were made from was putting them at risk for asbestos-related diseases including malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, and asbestosis.
A-Best Products Company History and Asbestos
A-Best Products Company was a textile manufacturer. The company was founded in 1947 to design, manufacture, and sell specialty clothing to protect industrial workers against the dangers of external, work-related hazards. As the company grew and sold its products to more clients, it expanded its product line to meet the needs of those in factory and manufacturing settings and other environments that required protection from heat, flame, or chemicals. In 1971, the company began adding asbestos to the fabrics that it used and continued that practice until 1984.
Though the company stopped using asbestos in its products, by the year 2002 it was facing hundreds of personal injury lawsuits filed by people who’d worn its products in the workplace and had been diagnosed with asbestos-related injuries. Facing approximately 13,450 lawsuits alleging bodily injury as a result of asbestos exposure,[1] the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and in 2004 it established the A-Best Products Company Asbestos Settlement Trust with approximately $18 million in assets.
How Did A-Best Products Company Use Asbestos?
Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that is both strong and heat resistant. It has been used for centuries in hundreds of applications, including as insulation and as a fire retardant.[2] Because it is so flexible, it was easily incorporated into cloth to add both strength and protection against flame, and that made it an obvious choice for making protective gear.
Clothing items made with asbestos allowed the wearer to work without fear of burns. Most of these protective items were made using chrysotile asbestos, the most common form of the mineral, and the most deadly. Chrysotile fibers that are inhaled or ingested can become embedded in the lining of the cavity that lines the pleural or peritoneal cavity, leading to scarring, cell mutation, and the formation of deadly tumors.[3]
It was only after the public became aware that asbestos causes lung diseases and cancers that the company discontinued using asbestos in its products. At the same time, those who had worn the gloves began being diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. Realizing that the items they’d worn for safety had put them at risk for serious illness, they began filing suit.[1]
A-Best Products Company’s Asbestos Products
A-Best Products Company specialized in safety clothing and equipment, and between 1971 and 1984, several items in the company’s product line included asbestos. Their asbestos-containing products included:
- Coveralls
- Aprons
- Gloves
- Mittens
- Coats
- Drop cloths
- Fire blankets
- Canvas
- Leggings
- Drapes
- Carpet
Who Was at Risk of Asbestos Exposure From A-Best Products?
A-Best’s safety products were specifically designed to protect those who worked in high-heat industrial environments or with high-heat equipment or materials. Anybody who wore the company’s gloves, leggings, aprons, coats, or other products was at risk of inhaling the fibers that were released into the air when the products were used. Their risk increased the longer the items were worn and the more heat and stress they were exposed to.
Those at risk included:
- Manufacturing workers
- Foundry workers
- Steel plant workers
- Firefighters
- Glass workers
- Shipyard workers
- Electricians
- Furnace operators
- Textile mill workers
- Ceramics workers
In preparing for its bankruptcy filing, A-Best Products Company compiled a list of the companies to which it had sold its asbestos-containing safety equipment. The list included over 1,000 customers, including the following major American employers whose employees were put at risk of asbestos exposure from the company’s products:[4]
- AT&T
- Bethlehem Steel
- Carolina Aluminum
- Chevrolet
- Chrysler
- Ford Motor Company
- General Electric
- Goodyear Tire
- Johns-Manville
- Martin Marietta
- RCA
- U.S. Steel
- Union Carbide
In addition to those who used A-Best’s asbestos-containing products on the job, those who worked at A-Best’s facility were exposed to asbestos fibers every day that they worked, and their family members and the family members of those who wore the company’s protective clothing were put at risk of secondary asbestos exposure to asbestos fibers that were carried home on their loved one’s hair, skin, or clothing.
Bankruptcy and The A-Best Settlement Trust
Like many asbestos companies facing significant economic damage as a result of asbestos liabilities, A-Best Products Company filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and two years later was granted Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors. As part of the company’s bankruptcy plan, it was required to set up a trust fund to address the damages inflicted on those who were sickened as a result of their negligence.[4]
The reorganization plan established the A-Best Settlement Trust to provide “fair, equitable, and substantially similar treatment” to all those harmed by asbestos to the company’s products. It established a schedule of four asbestos-related diseases, and compensation for each as follows:
- Mesothelioma (Level IV) – $30,500
- Lung Cancer (Level III) – $6,800
- Other Cancer (Level II) – $2,800
- Asbestos-related non-malignant disease – $1,100
The trust also allows claims for secondary exposure suffered by families, though for affected victims to establish their exposure they need to establish that their family member who was occupationally exposed meets the exposure requirements established by the trust for its claimants.
To prove eligibility for compensation under the terms of the A-Best Asbestos Settlement Trust, victims need to provide documentation to show the following:
- Occupational exposure at one of the 1,000+ sites on the trust’s approved occupational exposure list
- Six months of exposure to an A-Best asbestos-containing product
- Five years of cumulative occupational asbestos exposure
- A notice from a physician attesting to a 10-year latency period between the time of exposure and the diagnosis of an asbestos-related disease
- Evidence of asbestos-related disease
The trust notes that A-Best maintained a comprehensive set of sales order forms for all sales and distribution of its products, and based on this documentation, it developed a comprehensive list of sites known to have received its products. It also notes that A-Best did not manufacture or distribute asbestos-containing products after 1984 and that its specialized product line created a “limited universe” of occupations that could have been exposed to its industrial safety clothing.[4]
What to Do if You Were Exposed to A-Best Product Company’s Asbestos Products
A-Best Products only began using asbestos in its products in 1971 and continued the use of the carcinogenic material through 1984. With less than five decades having passed since its products first entered the market, there is a significant risk that many people who used its asbestos-containing products or who were exposed to asbestos from its products have yet to manifest symptoms and be diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases.
If you or someone you loved worked in a high-heat environment where they used A-Best industrial safety clothing and they or you have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you may be able to seek compensation for the damages you’ve suffered. Filing a claim with an asbestos bankruptcy trust does not require an asbestos attorney, but they can help you with the complex process. Additionally, speaking to one of these experienced, knowledgeable professionals may provide you with additional invaluable information about your next best steps, as well as whether you were exposed to asbestos from other sources throughout your career.
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