Duro-Dyne Canada Inc.

Founded in 1952 in Bay Shore, a hamlet on Long Island, State of New York, Duro-Dyne began as a manufacturer of sheet metal accessories for heating, cooling and ventilation systems. In their early days, they invented and manufactured products such as flexible duct connectors, vane rail and blade kits, which are all important for effective air systems.

Duro Dyne’s biggest seller, and their biggest liability, was flexible duct connectors. Duro Dyne indicates that these connectors are the only asbestos-containing products for which the company accepts responsibility. Asbestos was removed from them in 1978.

Non asbestos products as shown on the Duro Dyne Canada website, credit Duro Dyne Corporation

The name and logo were trademarked in Canada officially in 1960, indicating that their products had been sold in the Canadian market since start up in 1952. Their first Canadian location was in Lachine, Quebec, and it remains their primary Canadian facility.

When Duro-Dyne registered their flexible duct connection products in Canada with the intellectual property office in 1960 it was registered with the product name Metal-FAB, and described as “1) Air conditioning, heating and ventilating installation parts, namely: -flexible duct connector stock of strips of duct fabric clinched to sheet metal, packaged in coils and extended lengths.” The above photo is recent as these products still exist, now asbestos free, but it shows how the coils were packaged with the strip emerging from the packaging for use. The product was revolutionary and became extremely popular.

The US Parent company, Duro Dyne Corporation, filed for bankruptcy protection on September 7, 2018, to enable the beleaguered corporation to shed their asbestos liability and permit the company to be sold without encumbrance. Duro-Dyne was a family owned and operated corporation from the time of its founding in 1952 and the ongoing asbestos claims were devaluing the company and making it impossible to sell. The Duro-Dyne affected corporations include Duro Dyne National Corp., Duro Dyne West Corp., Duro Dyne Midwest Corp., and Duro Dyne Machinery Corp.

A final order was granted by the bankruptcy court on October 23, 2020, with the process resulting in an agreement to implement an asbestos trust to channel past, present and future asbestos injury claims.

By establishing an asbestos trust, it is possible to treat all claimants with the same disease level equally. This means that a specific compensation level for Mesothelioma or other asbestos diseases are negotiated in conjunction with a bunch of lawyers (future claimants’ representatives), bankruptcy court judge and personnel assigned to operate the trust.

Negotiation resulted in a Mesothelioma claim being valued at $140,000 and Severe Asbestosis at $34,000. With all bankruptcy trusts relating to injury from manufactured products, to prevent the trust from becoming underfunded, victims are offered a percentage of the full claim amount. At the time of writing this summary the Duro-Dyne payment percentage is 20%.

If you are willing to accept a settlement based on the predetermined amounts, review happens quickly. If you feel your situation deserves a more in-depth look, individual review can be requested but it will take considerably longer to receive a response. This trust officially opened for claims submissions in March of 2022, making it one of the newest asbestos trusts. The initial claims filing deadline for victims diagnosed before the date of bankruptcy, September 7, 2018, must file claims on or before March 20, 2025, or their claim will be statute barred.

All claims, regardless of the review process selected, must be accompanied by a filing fee. As this firm file our claims through the e-claims system we have a “bank account” with the trust for fees to be transferred. On claim approval the fee will be refunded.

Your age, occupational contact with Duro-Dyne products and confirmed and documented diagnosis all are considerations used to make the decision of what type of review to request. Second hand or bystander exposure ALWAYS requires individual review. Mesothelioma requires one day of documented exposure while other cancers and asbestosis require six months of documented exposure.

Additional guidelines for putting forward secondary exposure claims include the necessity to establish that the occupationally exposed person would have met the exposure requirements under the Trust Distribution Process (TDP) that would have been applicable had that person filed a direct claim personally against the Trust.

In addition, the claimant must establish that: (1) the injured party’s own exposure to the occupationally exposed person occurred within the same time frame as the occupationally exposed person was exposed to asbestos, asbestos-containing products, or conduct for which the Trust has legal responsibility and (2) that such secondary exposure was a cause of the claimed disease.

Duro-Dyne manufactured products for use in the HVAC industry. There are limited occupations where direct exposure is possible. Those occupations are:

• Sheet metal worker;
• Sheet metal mechanic;
• Sheet metal apprentice;
• HVAC repairman;
• HVAC installer;
• HVAC technician;
• Duct installer;
• Furnace installer.

If you did not sustain direct exposure but worked in close proximity to workers engaged in the above occupations, compensation is not impossible but will require a sworn explanation as to how your exposure occurred. Some explanations could be as simple as an electrician being in the vicinity; a father being a sheet metal worker or you were working as a plasterer at the same time and place as duct work was being installed in an office tower. When Affidavit evidence is required, we prepare it based on your circumstances and arrange for the deponent to meet with a notary either in person or remotely.

Duro-Dyne was sold to NSi, a national manufacturer and distributor of electrical products for electrical wholesalers and contractors in the North American markets. Duro-Dyne is now a wholly owned subsidiary of NSi. NSi is a North Carolina corporation founded in 1975 and they have embarked on a program of purchasing beleaguered companies and bringing their products into their distribution system. NSi bears no responsibility for Duro-Dyne’s asbestos problems as they insisted on and received a “hold harmless” clause when they purchase the company.

If you are suffering from asbestos disease caused or contributed by exposure to Duro-Dyne flexible duct product, please contact us to discuss making a claim for compensation to the Duro-Dyne asbestos personal injury compensation trust. Consultations are obligation free.