Premises Description

Kaiser Industries (Henry J. Kaiser’s diversified industrial empire — founded 1939, dissolved 1988 after piecemeal asset sales) operated through the mid-20th century one of the largest concentrated U.S. industrial workforces of the WWII, post-war, and Cold War eras. Kaiser Industries operating divisions included:

Kaiser Shipyards (WWII, 1941-1946):

  • Richmond CA Shipyards — four shipyards on San Francisco Bay building Liberty ships, Victory ships, LSTs, and escort carriers at record production rates
  • Kaiser Portland OR Shipyard
  • Kaiser Vancouver WA Shipyard
  • Kaiser WWII shipyards employed over 200,000 workers at peak, one of the largest concentrated U.S. war-production workforces

Kaiser Steel (1942-1983):

  • Fontana CA integrated steel mill — the only major U.S. West Coast integrated steel mill of the mid-20th century (closed 1983)

Kaiser Permanente Cement Company:

  • Cushenbury CA cement plant and other California cement operations
  • Cement supply to WWII shipyard and post-war construction

Kaiser Aluminum — separately covered on the Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical premises page

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Kaiser Industries WWII shipyards, Kaiser Steel Fontana, and Kaiser Permanente Cement operations exposed workforces to extensive asbestos. Kaiser WWII-shipyard workers who built Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships at record rates in confined shipboard spaces with limited ventilation were exposed to asbestos on a workforce scale unprecedented in U.S. history.

Kaiser Industries / Kaiser Shipyards / Kaiser Steel / Kaiser Permanente Cement has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • WWII shipyard workers (200,000+ at peak) at Kaiser Richmond, Portland, Vancouver shipyards
  • United Steelworkers Local members at Kaiser Steel Fontana CA
  • Cement plant workers at Kaiser Permanente Cushenbury CA
  • Refinery pipefitters, insulators, boilermakers, and construction-trade workforces on Kaiser capital projects

If You Worked at a Kaiser Industries Facility

If you worked at a Kaiser WWII shipyard (Richmond CA, Portland OR, Vancouver WA), Kaiser Steel Fontana CA, or Kaiser Permanente Cement operations during the asbestos era — as a Kaiser employee or as a dispatched contractor trade worker — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956