Page Updated enero 26, 2026

Veteran’s Mesothelioma Claim Cites Shipboard & Occupational Asbestos Exposure

Página revisada y editada por

Abogado de mesotelioma Paul Danziger

A Massachusetts Navy veteran and his wife filed a mesothelioma lawsuit against multiple companies, accusing them of exposing him to asbestos during both his naval service and his subsequent civilian employment. Robert Spiro and his wife Nancy’s complaint blames the companies for his terminal diagnosis and also accuses Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of conspiring with asbestos manufacturers to conceal mesothelioma risks from workers and the public.

Asbestos Exposure During Victim’s Navy Service Blamed for Mesothelioma

Mr. and Mrs. Spiro traced his mesothelioma back to asbestos exposure experienced during his U.S. Navy service as a machinist mate from 1957 to 1960. The couple’s lawsuit specifies that Spiro served aboard the USS Coolbaugh from approximately 1957 to 1959 and aboard the USS Newman K. Perry from approximately 1959 to 1960. Like most Buques de la Armada of that era, both vessels contained extensive asbestos insulation in their engine rooms, boiler rooms, and throughout their infrastructure.

Navy veterans face disproportionately high mesothelioma rates because the military made extensive use of asbestos in ships, submarines, and shore facilities through the 1970s. Machinist mates like Spiro worked in confined spaces where deadly asbestos fibers became airborne during equipment maintenance, repairs, and routine operations. These veterans inhaled and ingested the toxic mineral’s dust, fibers, and particles that decades later manifested as mesothelioma—a cancer with a latency period of 20 to 50 years.

Mesothelioma Risk Continued During Victim’s Heating Products Career

The Spiros’ mesothelioma lawsuit points to asbestos exposure that continued after his naval discharge. He worked as a heating products salesman from approximately 1976 through the late 1970s, and during this period, heating systems, boilers, furnaces, and related products commonly contained mesothelioma-causing asbestos insulation and components. The couple’s mesothelioma complaint argues that defendants failed to warn Spiro about the dangers of occupational exposure to asbestos in the products he sold, breaching both expressed and implied warranties while exposing him to continued mesothelioma risk.

The couple’s mesothelioma lawsuit names multiple corporate defendants responsible for manufacturing and distributing asbestos-containing products used in both naval applications and civilian heating systems. Among the companies implicated are two of the most notorious asbestos manufacturers in American history — Johns Manville Corporation and Raymark Industries. Both companies faced thousands of mesothelioma lawsuits before seeking bankruptcy protection.

Notorious Asbestos Companies Named in Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Johns Manville, once America’s largest asbestos producer, filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after facing overwhelming mesothelioma litigation. Discovery in personal injury lawsuits revealed that the company knew for decades that asbestos caused cancer. After paying millions in jury verdicts, the company established the Manville Trust to compensate victims. Raymark Industries, which manufactured asbestos brake linings and friction products, similarly faced extensive mesothelioma litigation before filing for bankruptcy in 1989.

Mesothelioma Lawsuit Alleges Insurance Company Conspiracy

The Spiros’ mesothelioma complaint includes allegations against Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, accusing the insurer of conspiring with Johns Manville and Raymark to conceal mesothelioma risks from workers. The mesothelioma lawsuit claims Metropolitan Life “intentionally” published “false, misleading, inaccurate, and deceptive information about the health effects of asbestos exposure” while suppressing medical research and understating the mineral’s mesothelioma-causing hazards.

This mesothelioma conspiracy allegation reinforces previous accusations that insurance companies, which collected occupational health data from asbestos companies, possessed early knowledge of mesothelioma risks but failed to warn workers or the public. The couple seeks compensation for Spiro’s mesothelioma injuries and Nancy Spiro’s loss of consortium.