Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.

The origins of Crown Cork & Seal date back to the Industrial Revolution. The company began with the 1892 invention of the bottle cap. While Crown never created asbestos-containing products on its own, the company was acquired by Mundet Cork in 1963. Mundet Cork manufactured items that have since been determined to contain asbestos. This acquisition exposed Crown Cork & Seal to asbestos litigation.

Below we will explore the asbestos exposure risk that people faced as a result of products manufactured by Crown Cork as well as the Mundet company.

Countless people were exposed to asbesto through their use of products manufactured by Mundet. Some of the exposed individuals included workers at Mundet insulation as well as consumers who used Mundet products. The most common use of Mundet products was in a commercial setting.

Insulation workers were at increased risk because they used products manufactured by Mundet to insulate boilers, pipes, and walls to keep products from overheating and becoming susceptible to fire. Insulators fortunately worked in confined spaces, which greatly increased the risk of exposure to asbestos.

Family members who dealt with products containing asbestos were also at risk of asbestos exposure. Some consumers were also exposed to Crown Cork products.

Some of the products that the Mundet company manufactured that are known to contain asbestos include:

• Block insulation
• Cork 85% magnesia asbestos insulation
• Mineral wood finishing and insulating cement
• Pipe covering

Crown Cork first became involved in asbestos litigation in the 1970s following its acquisition of Mundet Cork. Even though Crown Cork got rid of Mundet’s asbestos branch soon after, the company is still liable for lawsuits involving asbestos exposure that occurred involving Mundet’s products.

A legal concept known as “successor liability” holds Crown Cork responsible for the company’s use of asbestos. Because Crown Cork purchased control stock in Mundet, Crown Cork is viewed as liable for Mundet’s asbestos use. Crown Cork was named in the several asbestos lawsuits that were initiated in the late 1970s. Between 1985 and 1997, the company resolved approximately 70,000 asbestos claims.

In one case initiated against Crown Cork, a man was diagnosed with a particularly deadly type of cancer due to years of working at McDermott Incorporated Shipyard. The worker dealt with asbestos-containing gaskets as well as other products. Mundet manufactured the asbestos pipes that man utilized daily. In 2012, the worker was awarded $12 million in damages from Crown Cork as well as WestingHouse Electric Corporation.

While Crown Cork does not have an asbestos trust, the company allocates money to pay asbestos claims.

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