Raymond G. O'neal, and Lisa M. O'Neal v. Celanese Corporation, and Hoechst Celanese Corporation

OPINION

WIDENER, Circuit Judge:

The appellants, Raymond and Lisa O’Neal, were plaintiffs below. They claim that Raymond O’Neal suffered lead poisoning when he used a welding torch to cut metal coated with lead-based paint and inhaled the fumes from the burning paint. At the time, O’Neal was employed by Trans America Liquidators, which had purchased the contents of a factory owned by the defendant, Celanese. Trans America was in the process of dismantling some spinning machines that it had purchased so that they could be removed from the Celanese plant.

The theory of the plaintiffs’ case against…