United Gilsonite Laboratories (UGL) is a paint and coatings manufacturer that was originally based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Through the years, the company has manufactured and sold more than eighty products, including a waterproofing and leak-prevention compound and a wood finish, but it was forced into bankruptcy after an asbestos-containing joint compound that it produced from 1954 to 1975 was named in multiple mesothelioma lawsuits.[1]
United Gilsonite Laboratories History and Asbestos
United Gilsonite Laboratories was founded in 1932 when Gerald B. Payne used the $5,000 he’d saved to begin manufacturing asphalt products, furnace cement, stove linings, patching plasters, and roofing treatments. Over the years the company added a host of products, including E‑Ject‑O Drain Opener, Glomex Furniture Polish, Parisian Wall Sizing, and Gilsalume, the first asphalt aluminum paint to provide roof surfaces with heat-reflecting qualities and weather protection.[2]
In 1953, the company introduced its waterproofing compound DryLok, with variations that waterproofed basements, stopped active masonry leaks, protected and beautified interior or exterior masonry walls, and painted masonry floors. In 1958 they introduced ZAR® Crystallite Coating, one of the first clear polyurethane finishes for wood available commercially in the United States.[2]
In 1954, the company added asbestos-containing joint compounds that were sold to lumber yards and specialty shops. They discontinued manufacturing and selling it in 1975, but those twenty-one years caused significant damage. By 1983, the company was being named in asbestos personal injury lawsuits, and that continued over the next several years, with 124 asbestos lawsuits filed between 1992 and 2000. By 2001, the company’s products were cited in mesothelioma claims, and by 2002 to 2005, the company faced six to ten mesothelioma personal injury lawsuits per year.[1]
The company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and bankruptcy protection in 2011, seeking court approval to establish a trust fund to settle outstanding claims and an injunction preventing asbestos-related awards except through the trust.[3] The plan was approved in 2020 after being funded by $35.5 million from the reorganized company, and in 2022 the company was sold to Sika Corporation, a worldwide chemical conglomerate based in Switzerland.[4]
How Did United Gilsonite Laboratories Use Asbestos?
Despite United Gilsonite Laboratories’ long manufacturing history, its association with asbestos-containing products was limited to joint compounds that exposed users to asbestos during the mixing, repair, or removal of the product and some asbestos-containing roofing materials. The joint compounds were manufactured from 1954 to 1975, and the total revenue derived from them was reportedly $965,000, but its impact on those who used the product was deadly.
Asbestos is a mineral found in nature that has been used for centuries to add strength, durability, and heat insulation to various types of materials. The advantages of adding asbestos to the joint compound that United Gilsonite produced included improving its working texture during mixing, making the compound more flexible during application, preventing the compound from shrinking and cracking as it dried, and increasing the product’s temperature stability. As was true with so many other asbestos-containing materials, the mineral made the drywall that the compound was applied to stronger and provided a level of fire retardance. Add to that the fact that asbestos was an extremely inexpensive and accessible addition to the product, and it’s no wonder that the company chose to include it.
By the late 1970s, the company had discontinued production of all asbestos-containing products, but people continued to be exposed to the material for many years after, both by using previously-manufactured inventory or by removing in-place joint compound.
Who Was Exposed to Asbestos from United Gilsonite Laboratories’ Products?
Joint compound and roofing materials are materials used by carpenters, general contractors, roofers, and laborers across multiple occupations, and these are the people who were primarily exposed to and at risk from asbestos in United Gilsonite Laboratories’ products. In addition to those who used the products to build and repair, the workers in factories where the products were made are at risk. So too are today’s demolition workers who are involved in renovations and removal of old materials, and family members who were put at risk through secondary exposure to asbestos carried into their homes on the hair, skin, or clothing of their loved ones who worked with the company’s asbestos-containing products.
Asbestos Lawsuits against United Gilsonite Laboratories
According to the United Gilsonite Laboratories’ bankruptcy filing, the company faced constant and continuous personal injury lawsuits claiming injuries from asbestos in its products from 1983 forward. Among the many claims filed against the company was a claim filed by Roberta Friedman, who asserted that her malignant mesothelioma was caused by exposure to a UGL compound used by her father and uncle for renovations done at the family’s residence when she was a child.[5]
By the year the company filed for Chapter 11, it had paid out more than $25 million in asbestos-related claims and was still facing almost 1,000 more.[3]
United Gilsonite Laboratories Bankruptcy, Reorganization, and Asbestos Trust
In the face of mounting lawsuits and an assertion by its insurer carriers that, after $25 million in settlements on its behalf, the company’s coverage had been exhausted, United Gilsonite filed for Chapter 11 reorganization and the ability to create an asbestos trust fund. That fund was established with $35.5 million and allows victims to file claims through the trust’s administrators.[1]
The trust has its own established processes and procedures for victims of exposure to its asbestos-containing products. It establishes several asbestos-related diseases for which it provides settlement amounts administered through either an expedited process or individual review. Most claimants accept a fixed settlement amount, with established compensation amounts as follows:
- Mesothelioma – $200,000
- Lung cancer – $21,000
- Other cancers – $9,000
- Severe asbestosis – $12,000
- Asbestosis/Pleural disease – $1,500
To be approved, applicants need to provide evidence that their injuries were caused by exposure to United Gilsonite’s asbestos-containing products, proof that the disease disrupted the claimant’s family life, and verification of all injuries.[6]
What to Do if You Worked with United Gilsonite’s Asbestos-containing Products
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos illness and you can trace your exposure to asbestos in United Gilsonite’s asbestos-containing products, you may be eligible to file a claim with the trust fund for compensation.
For guidance on completing the application process and options you may have for compensation from other companies whose products you worked with, contact an experienced mesothelioma lawyer.
