Milwaukee was the ‘Machine Shop of the World.’ Allis-Chalmers at West Allis, A.O. Smith, Allen-Bradley, the Falk and Rexnord gear works, Harley-Davidson, and the Bucyrus mining-shovel works at South Milwaukee ran the city on heavy metal, and the lakeshore stretched the industry south to the Case works at Racine and the American Motors and Chrysler engine plants at Kenosha. Foundry, forge, boiler, and machine work of this kind reportedly relied on asbestos insulation, gaskets, and materials for most of the twentieth century, and the trades who did it were reportedly exposed for full careers.
Wisconsin allows three years from a mesothelioma or asbestos-cancer diagnosis to file a personal-injury claim (Wis. Stat. § 893.54), with the clock starting when the disease is discovered or reasonably should have been. A wrongful-death claim runs three years from the date of death, which can open a new filing window. Cases are filed in the county Circuit Court of proper venue; Wisconsin has no statewide asbestos MDL, and Milwaukee County has historically carried the state’s largest asbestos docket.