Illinois Tool Works Moves to Dismiss Benzene Claims, Cites ‘Very Limited’ Use of Defendant’s Product

PHILADELPHIA –– A defendant named in a benzene suit pending in Pennsylvania state court has moved for summary judgment, saying that the plaintiff himself admitted that his use of the defendant’s brake cleaner was minimal.

Illinois Tool Works Inc. said in its Dec. 2 motion, filed in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County, that the evidence present by the plaintiffs is not enough “to provide a basis for an inference of causation ….”

The plaintiffs contended that Layne Kleinschmit developed Acute Myelogenous Leukemia as a result of occupational exposure to benzene-containing products he encountered while working …