Alabama Man Dies after Years-Long Fight against Benzene

By Jennifer Griffith

Published on January 18, 2007

A resident of Vance County, Jack Cline died at the age of 67 due to complications from a rare form of leukemia. He had worked at Griffin Wheel Co. for 37 years.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled in Oct. 2005 that Cline could not sue Griffin Wheel Co. on the grounds that the two-year statute of limitations ended before he filed his suit.

A controversial ruling based on precedence set in 1979, Cline’s attorney persuaded to the court to revisit it.

On Jan. 5 the court announced that its original ruling to uphold the precedence would stand.

The 1979 ruling stated that the statute of limitations in chemical exposure suits begins the last time a person is exposed to toxins. In most other states, the statute of limitations in such cases begins at the point of illness.

Cline used benzene to clean oxygen valves for Griffin Wheel Co. for close to four decades.

He was diagnosed in 1999 with acute myelogenous leukemia, a disease linked to benzene and radiation exposure.

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