Dow Chemical Files Third-Party Complaint Against Former Employer of Benzene Plaintiff

NEW ORLEANS –– The Dow Chemical Company has filed a third-party complaint against Nichols Construction, saying that it is entitled to defense and indemnity from the construction company for underlying benzene claims.

In the Sept. 15 third-party complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Dow Chemical says that the employer of the plaintiff in the underlying complaint agreed to indemnify Dow Chemical “against a range of claims and losses.”

The plaintiffs alleged in the complaint that Wilson Joseph Leonard Jr. was exposed to benzene-containing products while working as a pipefitter from 1967 to 1981 …