AB Electrolux Faces Numerous Asbestos Related Lawsuits
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Published December 20, 2002

AB Electrolux, the world's leading white goods maker, has been notified 
of 194 asbestos class action lawsuits involving 14,300 people, Chief 
Executive Hans Straberg said.  Mr. Straberg declined to say whether the 
lawsuits included claims from at least 13,000 people in more than 25 
class actions in the state of Mississippi, confirmed earlier by a US 
lawyer.

The claims against Electrolux are targeted at White Consolidated 
Industries (WCI), the maker of Frigidaire appliances, and at parent 
company AB Electrolux.  Electrolux acquired WCI in 1985.

"Is the situation serious, yes. The company is facing a serious number 
of lawsuits," Gretchen Gentry, a lawyer with the US law firm Daniels & 
Gentry in Jackson, Mississippi, told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday. 
She said 13,000-15,000 people have joined the asbestos class action 
lawsuits against Electrolux in the state of Mississippi in the past six 
months.  Other US lawyers have also recently talked about a similar 
number of such cases involving Electrolux.

Asbestos personal injury claims in the United States have cost more than
$54 billion in settlements so far and driven more than 60 US companies 
into bankruptcy.

Alwyn Luckey, whose Jackson-based law firm represents some 3,000 people 
in five separate class actions against Electrolux, told Reuters he 
believed Electrolux should have been notified of the pending asbestos 
lawsuits.


COMPANY PROFILE
AB Electrolux (NASDAQ: ELUX)
St G"ransgatan 143
Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46-8-738-6400
Fax: +46-8-656-4478
http://www.electrolux.com

Employees                :           87,139
Revenue                  : $ 12,956,000,000
Net Income               : $    369,000,000
Assets                   : $  9,010,000,000
Liabilities              : $  6,256,000,000

(As of December 31, 2001)

Description: AB Electrolux, the world's #1 producer of household 
appliances, cranks out washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, and
freezers under the Frigidaire, Electrolux, Zanussi, and AEG names. 
Electrolux is also the world's #1 maker of vacuum cleaners, including 
the Eureka (US) and Electrolux (outside North America) brands; it has 
bought the right to use the Electrolux name in North America (from 
long-unaffiliated vacuum maker Electrolux LLC) beginning in 2004. 
Electrolux also makes food and beverage machines for the food service 
industry, commercial laundry equipment, and lawn and garden equipment 
(Husqvarna chainsaws,Weed Eater trimmers).

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