Asbestos Trust Funds for Connecticut Workers

Connecticut workers exposed through the submarine yards in Groton, the Raymark brake plant and Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford, and the aerospace and insulation trades across the Hartford region are among the workers most likely to qualify for multiple asbestos trust fund claims. A single submarine hull, a single brake manufacturing line, or a single helicopter assembly bay contained asbestos products from many different suppliers, and most of those suppliers have since filed for bankruptcy and established trusts.

More than $30 billion remains in 60+ active trusts. For Connecticut families working through the state’s documented mesothelioma burden, trust claims are a significant and accessible source of compensation that runs parallel to litigation.

Trusts Most Relevant to Connecticut Workers

Electric Boat Submarine Builders

Electric Boat workers at the Groton yard have broad trust fund eligibility because asbestos was used throughout submarine construction, from pipe insulation and boiler lagging to gaskets, packing, and fireproofing. Dr. Irving Selikoff’s Mount Sinai team examined 1,000 Electric Boat production workers in 1975 and 1976 and found that roughly half showed X-ray abnormalities consistent with asbestos exposure. A 1984 follow-up study of 1,918 Electric Boat workers documented 356 deaths and significant excess mortality from lung and gastrointestinal cancers.

A pipe-coverer or insulator who spent 25 years at Groton might file claims with 15 to 25 trusts based on the products used at the yard. The same product-by-product eligibility pattern applies to Navy and civilian workers at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington, Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York, and shipyards in Florida.

General Dynamics Electric Boat has not itself filed for bankruptcy and does not have its own asbestos trust. Claims target the bankrupt suppliers whose products were used at the yard.

Raymark Brake Plant Workers

Raymark Industries, formerly Raybestos-Manhattan, operated a brake and friction-material plant at 75 East Main Street in Stratford from 1919 until the plant closed in 1989. Raymark filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1998, nine years after the plant closed. EPA and state remediation of the associated Superfund site has documented contamination across more than 60 residential, commercial, recreational, and municipal properties, plus wetlands near the Housatonic River.

Former Raymark production workers and workers at associated friction-product sites typically qualify for claims against the Federal-Mogul / T&N trust (which absorbed several brake-lining manufacturers), the Johns-Manville trust, and other friction-product trusts.

Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney Aerospace Workers

Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford is a documented asbestos exposure site tied to insulation, gaskets, and brake components used in helicopter manufacturing. Published Connecticut case summaries include roughly $1.74 million for a former electrician with Sikorsky service between 1960 and 1970 and roughly $1.13 million for a plant worker with exposure from 1979 to 2005.

In Bagley v. Adel Wiggins Group, the family of a Sikorsky manufacturing engineer who died of mesothelioma after sanding FM-37 epoxy (an adhesive that contained 8.6% asbestos and was applied to helicopter rotor blades) won an $804,777 jury verdict against the adhesive manufacturer. The Connecticut Supreme Court later reversed that verdict, requiring more specific expert testimony on respirable fiber release. Pratt & Whitney’s East Hartford aerospace operations used asbestos in similar insulation, gasket, and furnace roles.

Aerospace workers typically qualify for claims across multiple product trusts, including insulation manufacturers, gasket and packing manufacturers, and refractory companies.

Construction Tradespeople

Insulators, pipefitters, and electricians who worked on pre-1980 commercial, industrial, and public buildings across Connecticut handled asbestos pipe insulation, joint compound, floor tiles, and fireproofing from multiple manufacturers. These high-risk occupations account for a disproportionate share of trust fund claims nationwide.

Filing Process

1. Diagnosis documentation. Pathology reports confirming mesothelioma.
2. Exposure evidence. Work history placing the claimant at sites where specific products were used.
3. Claim submission. Forms filed with each applicable trust.
4. Review and payment. Trusts review and pay claims, typically within three to 12 months.

Trust Claims and Other Compensation

Trust fund claims are independent of other compensation sources. Filing a trust claim does not reduce, offset, or affect:

• Lawsuit settlements or verdicts, including the $25 million Plotkin J&J talc verdict
• VA disability benefits for Navy veterans, submarine crew, and civilian shipyard workers with qualifying exposure
• Workers’ compensation claims through the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission
• Electric Boat occupational disability programs administered separately from bankruptcy trusts

Most families pursue all applicable sources simultaneously.