In a recent ruling, New York’s Supreme Court Appellate Division gave a legal victory to David R. Kirby, a mesothelioma victim who has filed a personal injury lawsuit against transite pizza stone manufacturer David Fabricators. The man’s suit blames asbestos in the company’s baking stone as the reason for his fatal disease.
Mesothelioma Victim Cites Decades Working with Asbestos Pizza Ovens
Mr. Kirby was diagnosed with mesothelioma after having worked as a pizza cook from the 1960s through 1980s. Though his original lawsuit named both Bakers Pride, an oven manufacturer, and the transite stone board manufacturer, the oven company settled with the victim, leaving only David Fabricators as a defendant. The company attempted to escape liability under a legal principle called res judicata, arguing that the oven manufacturer was a “necessary party” to the claim, but the court ruled that David Fabricators was never party to the original Bakers Pride lawsuit and that joint tortfeasors don’t have to be parties to the same action under settled law.
The ruling recognized that pizza oven components came from different suppliers, and that each potentially had liable for exposing workers to asbestos. This both allows Mr. Kirby to pursue separate liability against the transite stone manufacturer and sets an important precedent for victims exposed to products from multiple manufacturers.
Mesothelioma Dangers from Commercial Ovens
Before asbestos exposure was linked to mesothelioma and other deadly diseases, it was regularly used in commercial ovens that required heat resistance and strength. Pizza shops used transite baking stones—hydraulically pressed cement asbestos boards mass-produced from the 1940s until 1980s—to deliver uniformly baked, crispy crusts while withstanding 500-degree temperatures. These stones provided consistent thermal conductivity but eventually deteriorated under constant high heat, releasing deadly asbestos fibers that pizza cooks like Kirby inhaled for decades.
Oven asbestos exposure caused mesothelioma in cooks as well as in maintenance professionals who installed and serviced industrial ovens, and family members may also have suffered due to secondary exposure from asbestos particles carried home on workers’ hair, skin, and clothing. A study titled “Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Bakers and Pastry Cooks” published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine documented eight mesothelioma cases in Italian bakers and pastry cooks between 1990 and 1997, with examination of their appliances revealing chrysotile or amosite asbestos in insulation, fireproofing, and sealant products.
Mesothelioma Threat Persists in Legacy Pizza Ovens
Though asbestos use largely ended in the mid-1980s, many decades-old pizzerias and bakeries never removed their originals materials from commercial baking equipment. Employees working with pizza ovens manufactured before 1980 remain at risk today of mesothelioma from legacy asbestos. Workers suspecting that asbestos may still exist in their ovens should immediately notify employers so that the equipment can be inspected by licensed abatement professionals.
