Concrete Worker Sues Mine Safety, 3M and Other Respirator Makers

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A former Arkansas truck driver and concrete worker alleges in a recent federal court complaint that respirators made by Mine Safety Appliances Co. (NYSE: MSA) and other firms failed to protect him from silica exposure that eventually caused his silicosis and related lung and respiratory illnesses.

Plaintiff Ronnie Fortner also named respirator-makers American Optical Corp. and 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM), as well as construction materials supplier Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) and various “Does” in the complaint filed Sept. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Fortner says that from 1976 …