Premises Description

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company, commonly known as LOF, operated the largest independent flat-glass, plate-glass, and automotive-safety-glass network in the United States. Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, LOF operated flat-glass and float-glass production works at Toledo and East Toledo OH, Rossford OH, Charleston WV, Ottawa IL, Shreveport LA, and other satellite plants. In 1986 LOF’s glass operations were acquired by Pilkington plc and later became part of Pilkington North America / NSG Group.

Plaintiffs alleged that LOF’s flat-glass and float-glass plants operated continuously running regenerative glass-melting furnaces, tin-bath float lines (following the Pilkington process from the 1960s forward), and annealing lehrs, and that this equipment was allegedly constructed and periodically rebuilt with asbestos-containing insulating firebrick, high-temperature refractory brick, block insulation, millboard, castable refractory, expansion-joint packing, and high-temperature gaskets around furnace crowns, sidewalls, port necks, regenerator checker chambers, tin-bath roofs and sidewalls, lehr shells, and roller-conveyor bearings.

Plaintiffs further alleged that LOF’s automotive-glass and laminated-safety-glass production lines used asbestos-containing rollers, conveyor pads, high-temperature gloves, and lehr components during tempering and lamination cycles. Cold-repairs, hot-patches, tin-bath rebuilds, lehr rebuilds, and roller-bearing overhauls allegedly released asbestos fibers throughout the plant environment.

Workers Exposed

Plaintiffs alleged that the following trades faced asbestos exposure at LOF plants:

  • Glass-tank bricklayers and refractory masons who tore out and re-laid asbestos-containing insulating firebrick during cold-repairs
  • Insulators who applied and removed asbestos block, millboard, and thermal cement on furnace exteriors, tin-bath shells, and lehr tunnels
  • Maintenance mechanics and millwrights who replaced asbestos gaskets and packing on roller conveyors, take-out mechanisms, and tin-bath auxiliary equipment
  • Glass workers, tempering-line operators, and lamination workers working downwind of hot-patch and rebuild activity
  • Electricians and instrument techs working around asbestos-lagged tin-bath channels and lehr controls

If You Worked at a Libbey-Owens-Ford Plant

If you or a family member worked at a Libbey-Owens-Ford flat-glass, plate-glass, float-glass, or automotive-glass plant — including Toledo OH, Rossford OH, East Toledo, Charleston WV, Ottawa IL, or Shreveport LA — and were exposed to furnace refractory, block insulation, or tin-bath / lehr gasket materials, you may have a claim.

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