Ark. Federal Court Schedules Trial, Motion Deadlines in Suit Against 3M, Mine Safety

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — A federal judge in Arkansas has scheduled trial for March 2014 in a silica-exposure case brought by a former truck driver and concrete worker who alleges that respirators made by Mine Safety Appliances Co. (NYSE: MSA), 3M (NYSE: MMM) and other firms failed to protect him from silicosis and related illnesses.

Plaintiff Ronnie Fortner also named respirator-maker American Optical Corp., construction materials supplier Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC) and various “Does” in the complaint filed in September in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas (See the Sept. 2012 issue of HarrisMartin’s Occupational …