Daughter of former plant worker blames companies for mother's lung cancer

A woman is suing over claims her mother's death was caused by exposure to asbestos.

Anna White, independent executor of the estate of Maria Divarco, deceased, filed a lawsuit Sept. 18 in Cook County Circuit Court against Luse-Stevenson Co., Motorola Solutions Inc., formerly known as Motorola Inc., Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and dozens of other companies.

According to the complaint, Maria Divarco was exposed to asbestos by products designed, manufactured, distributed, sold and marketed by the defendant companies during her employment as a plant worker and home remodeler from 1966 to 1979, in addition to non-occupational work projects.

White also claims her mother was secondarily exposed to asbestos through her ex-husband while he worked at Motorola's facility in Schaumburg.

The lawsuit states Divarco was diagnosed with lung cancer on Nov. 20, 2012, which led to her Aug. 10, 2013 death. The defendants are accused of negligence in including asbestos in their products, failing to warn the public and willfully deceiving the public as to the dangers related to asbestos exposure.

White is represented by attorney Michael T. Egan of Cooney & Conway in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L009773.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it only represents one side of the story.