Deceased Man's Family Files Asbestos Suit Against Chevron

The wife and child of a recently deceased man have filed an asbestos suit against Chevron, and its predecessor Texaco, alleging that the man’s wrongful death was caused by an asbestos-related disease.

On March 20, Catherin Dupuis, Mary Renee Romero, Lori Dupuis, Rebecca Johnson, Catherine Laws, and Christopher Dupuis filed suit against the two companies in Texas’ Jefferson County Circuit Court over the wrongful death of Melvin Dupuis.

According to the suit, Dupuis had been exposed to asbestos fibers due to his work as a laborer, insulator helper, machinist helper, stillman, and press operator at Texaco’s facility in Port Arthur, Texas.

The suit says that on October 27, 2005, Dupuis died “a terrible and painful” death.

The suit claims the defendants were aware of the fact that products containing asbestos could cause those exposed to suffer the disease of asbestosis and asbestos-related cancers for decades, but still allowed employees to work with and around products containing asbestos.

The plaintiffs claim the companies acted with malice and/or gross negligence through exposing Dupuis to asbestos and failure to take the necessary precautions to correct the dangerous condition and/or warn of the dangerous condition.

Dupuis’ family seeks unspecified punitive and exemplary damages.