Chicago Injury Law Blog

" Edward Martin, an insulator, and Robert Lettiere, a boilermaker/steam fitter, alleged that they were exposed to asbestos in powerhouses by the negligent conduct of Robert A. Keasbey. Lettiere originally filed a claim for asbestosis but amended his complaint after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2005.

At trial, Keasbey argued that the men’s lung cancers were cigarette smoking-related and that they were not exposed to significant enough doses of asbestos to cause lung cancer.

But on March 22, after phase I of the reverse-bifurcated trial, the jury returned an $11 million award for Robert Lettiere for pain and suffering.

At the same time, the jury returned $26 million for Edward Martin and his wife, Bonita, including $18 million for pain and suffering; $942,850 in economic damages to Bonita Martin; $9,063 in economic damages to Edward Martin, and a loss of consortium award of $7 million."

Read the full article at LexisOne.

We have been discussing this new type of asbestos exposure on our radio show, 102.3 WYCA in Chicago.  Overseas brake pad manufacturers may still use asbestos when making their brake pads.  People performing brake jobs on old cars should also be aware.  The grinding of the pads releases the asbestos dust into the air, presenting a serious hazard to those exposed.
This is the first actual verdict I have heard of:

"DaimlerChrysler Corp. must pay $20 million to a retired police officer and brake repairman whose right lung was removed because of cancer caused by asbestos, a jury ruled.

A jury in Manhattan's state Supreme Court ruled that Alfred D'Ulisse, 73, of North Massapequa, N.Y., and his wife were owed a total of $25 million, D'Ulisse's lawyer Jerry Kristal said Monday.

DaimlerChrysler was found to be 10 percent liable for D'Ulisse's cancer, but will be responsible for a total of 80 percent of the damages because two other companies found to be liable no longer exist, Kristal said."

Read the full article at Law.com.

"NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Industrial talc, an open-pit- mined mineral used in ceramic, paint, and paper manufacturing contains lethal, cancer-causing asbestos fibers responsible for a pottery artisan's fatal mesothelioma, a jury ruled today in the first-ever U.S. verdict connecting industrial talc with asbestos-related cancer."
"More than $3 million in compensatory damages were awarded by a Middlesex County Superior Court jury to a New Jersey widow whose husband operated pottery studios in Skillman, Lawrenceville and Lambertville, New Jersey before contracting the agonizingly painful, always fatal disease."

Read more at Yahoo.com.

"A McLean County jury has awarded about $5.5 million in a wrongful death suit accusing numerous companies of exposing a man to asbestos and hiding risks of the material.

The lawsuit, filed in summer 2004, alleged John Hoogerwerf was exposed to asbestos without warnings of its dangers and it caused lung cancer. He fought cancer for a little more than a year before his death on July 17, 2002.

The suit accused numerous companies of a conspiracy to hide the harms of asbestos, but last week’s verdict was solely against Honeywell International Inc. Hoogerwerf installed insulation on pipes and boilers using materials sold by Bendix, which eventually became part of Honeywell."

Read more at The Pentagraph.com

"A jury in Dallas, Texas, last week awarded $13.5 million to the survivors of a man who contracted an asbestos-related cancer decades after being exposed to a joint-compound product manufactured by Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp.

Attorneys from Dallas-based Baron & Budd told jurors that Timothy Shawn Bostic, who died of mesothelioma on Sept. 5, 2003, had been exposed to the fire-retardant mineral as a child and teen working with his father. According to Baron & Budd lawyers Charla G. Aldous and Chris Panatier, evidence at trial included documents showing that Georgia-Pacific officials knew of the health hazards caused by asbestos as early as 1966, but the company continued to manufacture asbestos-containing products until 1977.

Bostic’s wife and child had been awarded $9.3 million in March 2005 in the case. But, said Aldous, because the trial judge expressed concern over the way the jury had calculated punitive damages, she offered the plaintiffs the opportunity to either accept a reduced award or face a new trial.

'We decided to take a chance on a new trial,' said Aldous. 'As it turned out, that was a good decision.'"

Read the full article at Law.com here.