Judge Stays West Virginia AG Case Against Respirator Manufacturers

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A federal judge has stayed proceedings in a case filed by the state of West Virginia against four respirator manufacturers that the state says is obligated to pay millions of dollars spent compensating coal miners injured by exposure to silica dust. State of West Virginia ex rel. Darrell V. McGraw Jr., Attorney General v. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., et al., No. 03-2161 (S.D. W.Va.).

Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia entered the stay Aug. 18, following a request by plaintiffs to defer ruling on a …