Plumbing Company Leader Names Plumbing and HVAC Companies in Mesothelioma Lawsuit
South Dakota’s Frank K. Krohmer has worked in the plumbing industry since 1972, and he and his wife Christine’s plumbing business has been known for high-quality service and expertise since 1984. Mr. Krohmer learned he had mesothelioma in August 2024, and since then, the couple has initiated a mesothelioma lawsuit against numerous manufacturers and suppliers whose asbestos-based materials they say led to his terminal diagnosis.
Mesothelioma Claim Alleges Companies Withheld Warnings About Asbestos
The couple’s mesothelioma complaint asserts that Mr. Krohmer’s first exposure to asbestos came during his early career, when he worked as both a plumber and an HVAC technician for Tollefson Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning. His exposure continued later, at his own business, Krohmer Plumbing, Inc. The lawsuit also names the suppliers, manufacturer, and distributors of Gold Bond Foot Powder and Gold Bond Body Powder, talc products that they say contained asbestos.
According to the filing, for over four decades, Mr. Krohmer’s daily duties brought him into contact with numerous asbestos-containing components, including gaskets, packing, boilers, turbines, valves, pumps, thermal insulation, cement, board, and steam traps. The couple’s mesothelioma suit cites evidence that the companies responsible for manufacturing, distributing, and selling these materials “actively chose not to provide sufficient warnings about the deadly risks of inhaling asbestos fibers, and in many cases issued no warnings whatsoever, even though they were aware that breathing even minimal amounts of asbestos could cause fatal disease.”
Mesothelioma Plaintiff Pursues Punitive Damages for Reckless Misconduct
Beyond compensation for medical costs and other losses, the mesothelioma victim and his wife are asking the court to impose punitive damages on the companies named in their claim. Their lawsuit characterizes the companies’ refusal to warn users, failure to send recall notices, suppression of asbestos-related information, and disregard of internal recommendations to warn as deliberate, reckless, and undertaken with conscious indifference to the safety of Mr. Krohmer and countless other workers. The couple says that because these defendants prioritized their own profits over the lives of consumers and workmen who would be exposed to them, punitive damages are warranted.
The mesothelioma lawsuit lists several well-known corporations as defendants, including 3M Company, A.O. Smith Corporation, Armstrong International, Inc., Burnham Corporation, Buffalo Pumps, DAP Products, Inc., Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, General Electric Company, and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Each has faced repeated allegations of failing to alert workers to the hazards posed by their asbestos-containing products.
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