NFL Hall of Famer Files Asbestos Suit

Merlin Olsen, a standout lineman for the Utah State University football teams and later with the Los Angeles Rams, has been diagnosed with mesothelioma and has filed a lawsuit against multiple companies claiming that his asbestos exposure was caused by negligence.  Olsen had a stellar NFL career, claiming Rookie of the Year honors in 1962 and Most Valuable Defensive Player in 1973.

He played fifteen years in the league as a defensive lineman, made the Pro Bowl in fourteen of those years and did not miss a single game during his professional football career.  He went on to become a successful sports broadcaster for the NBC television network.

After his retirement from the world of professional sports, Olsen embarked on a successful second career as an actor. He appeared in the acclaimed television series Little House on the Prairie, and then played the lead role on the series Father Murphy. Additionally, he garnered several endorsement deals that made him spokesman for a number of commercial products.

Asbestos Lawsuit Targets TV Networks & Construction Industry

In the asbestos litigation he is undertaking he is filing suit against NBC Studios, NBC Universal, 20^th Century Fox, Sherwin Williams and Lennox Industries for negligence in allowing his workplace exposure to asbestos.  It is unusual for a movie production house or a TV network to face an asbestos claim, but Olsen spent so much of his professional career with NBC that his attorneys believe they are valid plaintiffs.

Exposure Could Have Taken Place Over 50 Years Ago

Olsen claims in his suit that he was engaged to perform manual labor at the age of 10 or 11 and was exposed to asbestos at that time.  Later, he was employed installing drywall and was exposed to asbestos at that point as well.

He is sixty nine years of age today, so if the exposure as a youngster has resulted in asbestos cancer the disease has not shown symptoms for over fifty years.  Sherwin Williams and Lennox Industries are the likely targets of Olsen’s asbestos claims relating to his work as a laborer and construction hand early in his life.