California Welding Rod Complaint Is Third In Less Than A Month

LOS ANGELES -- The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company published a safety booklet in 1938 warning that exposure to manganese may cause an illness similar to Parkinson's disease, but its importance was downplayed by numerous welding rod manufacturers and trade organizations, a new complaint filed in California contends. Cogburn, et al., v. BOC Group, et al., No. BC311976 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

The complaint, filed March 10 in the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County is the third California welding rod complaint to be filed in less than a month; the first two were filed in Alameda and …