Welding Rod Industry Maintains Winning Track Record

Tort Law

Welding Rod Industry Maintains Winning Track Record

Posted Apr 22, 2008, 08:52 am CDT
By Molly McDonough

So far, the world's largest welding-equipment maker—Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc.—has escaped the fate of tobacco and asbestos companies by winning victory after victory against plaintiffs who claim its products cause symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.

The industry's scorecard? According to Bloomberg News, companies have won stands 20 of the 23 cases tried.

The industry's litigation track record and refuse-to-settle posture has prompted a substantial drop in new filings, from 9,510 in 2003 to only 57 last year, Bloomberg reports. Lincoln was named in most of these lawsuits.

"Plaintiffs' lawyers are always looking for the next asbestos or the next tobacco," Lincoln shareholder John R. Dorfman, is quoted saying. "But the trend has been for the company."

Welders began suing the welding-rod industry more than 30 years ago, claiming manganese fumes from the heated rods and wires led to tremors. Cases skyrocketed after tobacco lawyers, including Richard Scruggs and Don Barrett, took an interest in the litigation, Bloomberg notes.

But the industry, rather than accept sweeping settlement offers, decided to collaborate and fight each case.

David Shelton of the Scruggs Law Firm in Oxford, Miss., remains optimistic about the remaining cases. He won a $20.5 million award against the industry in December and scored another $2.9 million win in February. "We're not saying the plaintiffs will win every one, but we've caught up with the industry on knowledge of the health risks," Shelton says.

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