As recently as the 1980s, companies that manufactured pizza ovens used asbestos transite blocks to form the bottoms of the ovens. Pizzeria workers were unknowingly exposed to asbestos when they cleaned these ovens.

Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford represents a 56-year-old man pizzeria worker who worked at a Buffalo area pizza parlor. He was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in March 2011, and his only known exposure to asbestos was transite blocks.  During the cooking process, pizzas were laid directly on top of the transite blocks. Our client cleaned the ovens with a wire brush in order to remove baked-on food debris. Scraping and sweeping the interior of the ovens created asbestos-containing dust.

Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford has filed a lawsuit on behalf of this individual. It is our goal to utilize a provision of New York State law that allows a plaintiff with a terminal illness to have a trial date within one year of commencing a lawsuit.