State Sues Respirator Cos. for Benefits to Dust-Exposed Miners

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A state attorney general has sued three respirator manufacturers in an attempt to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in workers' compensation benefits it has paid to miners injured as a result of their exposure to coal and silica dust. State of West Virginia, ex rel. Darrell V. McGraw Jr. v. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, No. 2:03-2161 (S.D. W.Va.).

In a complaint filed Aug. 6 in the Lincoln County Circuit Court, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell V. McGraw Jr. alleges that 3M, Mine Safety Appliances Co. and the American Optical Corp. conspired to keep knowledge of …