Product and Premises Description

Western Electric Company (founded 1869; the manufacturing arm of the Bell System / AT&T from 1881 through the 1984 Bell System divestiture; operated as AT&T Technologies 1984-1996; reorganized into Lucent Technologies 1996, today part of Nokia) was through the 20th century the largest U.S. telecommunications equipment manufacturer and one of the largest U.S. electrical equipment manufacturers. Western Electric supplied virtually all of the central-office switching equipment, telephone instruments, telecommunications cable, and customer-premises equipment used across the U.S. Bell System and was a major supplier of electrical components and phenolic laminate parts to other U.S. electrical manufacturers.

Western Electric operated major U.S. manufacturing plants through the asbestos era:

  • Hawthorne Works (Cicero IL) — the flagship Bell System manufacturing complex (closed 1986), historically one of the largest U.S. industrial workplaces with tens of thousands of employees
  • Kearny Works (Kearny NJ) — major Northeast manufacturing complex
  • Lincoln Plant (Lincoln NE) — telecommunications equipment
  • Indianapolis IN — central-office switching equipment
  • Allentown PA — electronic equipment
  • Columbus OH, Oklahoma City OK, North Andover MA, Burlington NC, Reading PA, Shreveport LA — additional U.S. plants

Product-vector asbestos pathways plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation:

  • Asbestos-insulated telecommunications cable supplied by Western Electric to the Bell System — Bell cable splicers, cable installers, and central-office technicians cut, spliced, and removed asbestos-insulated cable as routine trade work through the documented era
  • Asbestos-filled phenolic laminate components in central-office switching equipment, electromechanical relays, and customer-premises equipment
  • Asbestos arc-chute components in switchgear and electrical protection equipment
  • Asbestos cloth and tape used in cable-splicing and electrical-insulation operations

Premises-vector asbestos pathways at Western Electric manufacturing plants:

  • Asbestos pipe covering on plant steam mains and process piping
  • Asbestos refractory in heat-treat and metal-processing furnaces
  • Asbestos block insulation on plant boilers and heat exchangers
  • Asbestos gaskets and packing at process equipment
  • Asbestos electrical insulation on plant motor and switchgear systems
  • Spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on plant structural steel

Western Electric Company / AT&T Technologies / Lucent Technologies has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant and Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.

Workers Exposed

  • Bell System / AT&T cable splicers working asbestos-insulated Western Electric telecommunications cable
  • Bell System central-office switching technicians servicing Western Electric central-office equipment
  • Telephone-equipment installers working customer-premises Western Electric equipment
  • CWA Local members at Western Electric manufacturing plants (Hawthorne, Kearny, Lincoln, Indianapolis, Allentown)
  • Phenolic-laminate fabricators at downstream electrical equipment manufacturers using Western Electric phenolic components
  • Construction-trade workforces on Western Electric capital projects
  • Plant maintenance workers servicing Western Electric plant asbestos infrastructure

If You Worked With Western Electric Equipment or at a Western Electric Plant

If you worked with Western Electric Company asbestos-insulated telecommunications cable, central-office switching equipment, or phenolic laminate components during the asbestos era — including as a Bell System / AT&T cable splicer, central-office technician, or installer — or worked at a Western Electric manufacturing plant during the asbestos era — as a Western Electric 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