CHEMICAL MANUFACTURER STEPAN
CHEMICAL IS SUED IN CONNECTION WITH HARMFUL, TOXIC CHEMICAL EXPOSURE AT
ELWOOD PLANT
Will
County/Elwood, October 22, 1997- Today a lawsuit was filed which charges
Stepan Company, owner and operator of a chemical manufacturing plant
located in Elwood, with wrongfully exposing three workers to harmful
toxic chemicals. The civil action was filed on behalf of welders Larry
Freeman, Timothy J. Freeman and John Harris Lautenschlager in the
Circuit Court of Will County. Also, on October 9, 1997, Donald
W. Fohrman & Associates, Ltd., a Chicago law firm, filed
Workers' Compensation claims on behalf of the three welders against
their employer, Tron, Inc., with the Illinois Industrial Commission.
Specifically, the complaint charges that defendant Stepan Company failed
to provide any type of protections (i.e., protective gear, adequate
ventilation, etc.) or warnings to plant workers concerning their
exposure to toxic chemicals including the harmful chemical glycol. The
complaint states that the three plaintiffs were employed by Tron, Inc.,
a company which is in the business of servicing equipment and facilities
for Stepan Company. On November 9, 1995, the three plaintiffs were
employed to perform certain welding work on a ballestra mixer which
contained dangerous chemicals. Without the proper safeguards in place,
these plaintiffs were exposed to toxic chemicals, thereby suffering lung
disease and other serious injuries.
