A professional stone cutter is suing multiple companies he alleges share liability for the lung disease he acquired after years of working in the industry that provides attractive kitchen top counters and other products.
Gerardo Reyes’ Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, spanning more than 450 pages, includes allegations of negligence and product liability. His wife, Mabel Astral Reyes, alleges loss of consortium. The couple seek unspecified compensatory damages and Gerardo Reyes additionally wants an award of punitive damages.
Reyes worked as a cutter, fabricator and installer of stone products from 2001-24 at companies in Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Anaheim and Costa Mesa, according to the suit brought Friday. In July, he was diagnosed with silicosis, a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust.
“Throughout the course of his work … Reyes worked with inherently hazardous stone products manufactured, imported, supplied, distributed, contracted and/or brokered, by the named defendants,” the suit states.
Reyes was exposed to and inhaled dust containing silica and other toxins and carcinogens as well as artificial stone dust containing respirable crystalline silica metals, including arsenic, chromium, cobalt, copper and iron, according to the suit, which additionally states Reyes did not know his lung disease was occupationally related or its cause until the recent diagnosis of silicosis.
Reyes is now more likely than before to acquire lung cancer, chronic kidney disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to his suit.