Today, the Yarway Corporation is a subsidiary of Emerson Electric Company, but the company had its start in Philadelphia in 1908 as the Simplex Engineering Company. The company manufactured component parts and equipment including gaskets, valves, and packaging, then grew to supply products for a wide range of industries. The company’s products contained asbestos, leading to it being named as a defendant in thousands of personal injury claims filed by people diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. In 2015, the company established an asbestos bankruptcy trust fund to compensate those victims for the damages they’d suffered.
Yarway Corporation History and Asbestos
Yarway Corporation was founded in 1908 as the Simplex Engineering Company. Known for manufacturing component parts and equipment for use in power-generation settings, the company began incorporating asbestos in its gaskets, valves, steam traps, and packaging in the 1920s and continued its use of the material through the late 1980s. The company’s products were used in the paper and chemical industries, as well as in shipyards, railyards, and onboard United States Navy ships.
The company was founded by mechanical engineers Robert Yarnall and Bernard Waring to design and produce valves, controls, and steam traps for the growing steam-power industry. Renamed the Yarnall-Waring Company early in its operations and then renamed Yarway Corporation in 1967.[1] By 1986, Yarway had expanded operations into seven countries. It merged with Keystone International, a large maker of industrial valves, and in 1997 Keystone was purchased by Tyco International Ltd.[2]
By 1988, Yarway had stopped manufacturing, distributing, and selling asbestos-containing products, but the damage had been done. It began being named a defendant in asbestos personal injury lawsuits in 1991 though it stopped manufacturing operations entirely in 2003 and sold its manufacturing facility, it remained in existence specifically to “defend, process, and satisfy asbestos-related claims asserted against it.”[3]
In 2013, Yarway Corporation filed a Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy based on the continued flow of asbestos-related claims due to human exposure to the company’s asbestos-containing products. Its bankruptcy filing stemmed from claims stemming from exposure to its gaskets and packing manufactured between the 1920s and 1970 and claims relating to the manufacture of joint packing consisting of Teflon and asbestos from the 1940s to the 1970s.[3]
Today Yarway Corporation continues to operate as a subsidiary of Emerson U.S., producing valves, desuperheaters, and pump protection solutions across various industries.[4]
How Did Yarway Use Asbestos?
Yarway Corporation used asbestos in the gaskets and packing that it manufactured between the 1920s and 1970 and in the joint packing it manufactured from the 1940s through the 1970s.
These products were used in a wide range of worksites, including steam stations, electric stations, power stations, nuclear stations, and shipyards. Its gaskets and valves were in place in hundreds of U.S. Navy ships and on bases representing every branch of the military.[5]
Which Workers Were at Risk of Yarway Asbestos Exposure?
Yarway Corporation’s asbestos-containing gaskets, valves, and other products were used in a wide range of equipment in thousands of applications and environments. The administrators of the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust have acknowledged the damage done by Yarway’s products to individuals in multiple occupations, including:[5]
- Boiler Workers (Shipyard/Commercial/Industrial/Railroad industries)
- Coppersmith s(Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries)
- Machinists (Railroad/Industrial/Shipyard industries)
- Millwrights (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries)
- Powerhouse Mechanics (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries)
- Sprinkler Fitters (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries)
- Steamfitters (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries)
- Maintenance Mechanics (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard industries
- Pipefitter s(Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard Industries)
- Plumbers (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard Industries)
- HVAC Workers/Mechanics (Industrial/Railroad/Shipyard Industries)
- Shipyard/Shipboard Electricians, Engine Room Workers, Firemen, Sheet Metal Workers, Ship fitters
Yarway Asbestos Lawsuits
Starting in 1991, Yarway was named in tens of thousands of asbestos personal injury lawsuits. The company settled many of these out of court, but others were heard by juries who awarded victims of exposure to the company’s asbestos-containing products significant verdicts. In 2008, a Philadelphia jury awarded a Navy machinist mate diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma filed a lawsuit against Yarway and several other companies whose asbestos-contaminated products he was exposed to while performing heavy maintenance in the engine rooms aboard the USS Block Island and the USS Wasp.[6]
Though many of the companies resolved the claims before the case went to a jury, Crane Co., John Crane, Inc., and Yarway Corporation remained as defendants. The three were assessed a $25.2 million award, with $7 million assigned as compensatory damages and $18.2 million in punitive damages. Yarway was required to pay 20% of the award.[6]
Yarway Asbestos Settlement Trust
By 2013, Yarway Corporation had been named in thousands of personal injury lawsuits alleging exposure to asbestos-containing materials. Over the five years between 2008 and 2013, it paid over $128 million in settlement costs for asbestos claims, and in 2013 it paid $18 million. With no insurance coverage available for future claims by 2012 and anticipating an estimated 3,200 viable claims with an estimated net liability of $319 million for pending and future claims (and related defense costs of $846 million), the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was established in 2015 with approximately $325 million in cash to process, liquidate, and pay valid asbestos personal injury claims.[3]
The Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust recognizes seven asbestos-related diseases. Claimants can submit documentation for an expedited review for specific illnesses and individual reviews for others.[5]
Expedited reviews are available for those who submit documentation that meets the medical and exposure criteria as follows, and receive 25% of the compensation reflected below:[5]
- Malignant mesothelioma – $55,000 compensation
- Lung Cancer I – $17,500 compensation
- Colorectal, laryngeal, esophageal, pharyngeal, or stomach cancer – $5,000
- Severe asbestosis – $10,000
- Asbestosis/Pleural Disease Level II – $2,000
- Asbestosis/Pleural Disease Level I – $2,000
Individual reviews are available for those who have been diagnosed with disease levels III through VI (severe asbestosis, other cancer, lung cancer, and mesothelioma). These reviews consider mitigating circumstances that justify a more significant settlement amount, including the claimant’s age, level of disability, employment status, disruption to family life, and pain and suffering. Average compensations for those in these circumstances are as follows:[5]
- Mesothelioma – $80,000
- Lung Cancer I – $20,000
- Lung Cancer II – $5,000
- Other Cancers IV – $6,000
- Severe Asbestosis (Level III) – $12,000
Other compensation amounts are available for those who worked in a Yarway facility and meet the criterion for extraordinary claims, those who are facing dire financial needs and who qualify for exigent hardship claims, and those who have suffered secondary exposure to asbestos from a loved one who worked with Yarway asbestos.[5]
What to Do if You Were Exposed to Yarway Asbestos
If you worked for or with Yarway gaskets, valves, joint packing, or any other products and have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, you may have been exposed to Yarway asbestos and may be eligible to submit a claim with the Yarway Asbestos Personal Injury Trust.
Though individuals can submit a claim on their own, the process can be complex. For assistance in understanding your eligibility and help completing and submitting the application, contact an experienced asbestos lawyer who will help you navigate the process and expedite your getting the compensation you deserve.
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