Although the height of the asbestos litigation is several years behind us, 3,000 people still get diagnosed with mesothelioma every year. Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma so we still see hundreds of asbestos lawsuits filed every year. Most of these mesothelioma cases settle fairly quickly, but we still see many of these cases going to trial in courts around the country.
The causation evidence linking asbestos exposure to mesothelioma is well established and never gets challenged anymore. The defense in most mesothelioma cases usually revolves around whether the plaintiff can adequately prove other elements of their claims (e.g., whether the plaintiff worked with asbestos products manufactured by the defendants, or on property owned by the defendants, etc.).
OTHER ASBESTOS TOPICS:
Asbestos Claims and Defendants
In the early days of asbestos litigation, the defendants named in the lawsuits were usually the companies who actually manufactured and/or sold asbestos products that the plaintiff was exposed to. In cases where the product manufacturer is still around, asbestos plaintiffs can assert traditional product liability claims such as strict liability, failure to warn, etc.
After decades of litigation, however, many of these manufacturing defendants are no longer around so plaintiffs often need to pursue alternative defendants who may have liability. One of the most common ways of pursuing other defendants is to bring premises liability claims against companies who did not manufacture asbestos, but had work sites where asbestos exposure occurred (e.g., a shipyard where navy ships were dismantled).
How Much are Asbestos Cases Worth?
Asbestos cases involving mesothelioma have a very high settlement value. Mesothelioma is only caused by exposure to asbestos and the scientific evidence establishing this fact is not disputed. Mesothelioma also happens to be one of the deadliest types of cancer. These two factors drive the value of mesothelioma cases. The average settlement value of an asbestos mesothelioma case is around $1.75 million. The average jury verdict in mesothelioma cases is 3-4 times that amount.
Asbestos Mesothelioma Cases
Asbestos lawsuits in which the plaintiff has been diagnosed with mesothelioma are the strongest and most valuable types of asbestos cases. In fact, mesothelioma asbestos cases typically have a settlement value that is 4-6 times higher than lung cancer and other types of asbestos cases. There are 2 very simple reasons for this. First, mesothelioma is a rare and unique type of cancer that is only know to be caused by exposure to asbestos. The scientific link is so strong that being diagnosed with mesothelioma is essentially like a factual finding that the individual was also exposed to asbestos at some point. The second reason for the high settlement value of these cases is that mesothelioma is a deadly form of cancer. It has one of the lowest 5-year survival rates of any cancer type, so the damages in a mesothelioma case are always very high.
Asbestos Lung Cancer Cases
The second major category of asbestos lawsuits are those cases in which the plaintiff claims that they developed lung cancer as a result of asbestos exposure. Asbestos lung cancer cases have a lower average settlement value compared to mesothelioma cases, mainly because the causation link between asbestos and lung cancer is not as strong. There is certainly strong evidence showing that asbestos can cause lung cancer. The problem is that there are a lot of other things that are also known to cause lung cancer, smoking being the most obvious example.
Verdicts and Settlements in Mesothelioma Cases
Below are summaries of recent asbestos cases in which the plaintiff alleged mesothelioma as the primary injury. Most of these are wrongful death cases because mesothelioma is such as deadly type of cancer that victims rarely live to see their case go to trial.
Little II et al. v. Hardie-Tynes Co. Inc. (Washington 2024) $5,500,892: The plaintiff alleged that while he was in the U.S. Navy and while he later worked at a naval shipyard he was exposed to asbestos-containing products manufactured and/or installed by defendants Hardie-Tynes Co. Inc., P-G Industries Inc. and others and/or was exposed to asbestos through the use of the defendants’ products. He developed mesothelioma years later. The defense claimed that the plaintiff’s exposure came from products made by other companies, the jury disagreed.
Plaintiff v. Vanderbilt Mills (Connecticut 2024) $15,00,000: While employed as a process engineer at a General Electric plant in Massachusetts between 1965 and 1967, a man was exposed to asbestos-laden talc. The lawsuit alleged that Vanderbilt Minerals, the mining company responsible for supplying the talc, was aware of the asbestos contamination but hid this information from regulators and customers. This exposure ultimately led to the man’s mesothelioma diagnosis and subsequent death. The jury awarded $15 million in compensatory damages after deliberating for only two hours.
Estate of Torgerson v. John Crane Inc (Illinois 2023) $40,750,000: The decedent was reportedly employed from 1963 through 1996 in various positions working at various oil refineries and oil production fields. During the course of his employment, he was allegedly exposed to and inhaled asbestos fibers emanating from certain products that he worked with and around which were manufactured, sold, distributed, marketed or installed by defendant John Crane Inc. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2019 and died before the end of the year. This was a large verdict, even for an asbestos case, but Cook County, Illinois is know to be a very plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction.
Sokol v. UMPC (Pennsylvania 2023) $334,750: A 70-year-old male retired from his employment as a maintenance supervisor for defendant University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a/ka UPMC Montefiore Hospital, claimed he was allegedly exposed to asbestos during the course and scope of his employment, developing lung cancer. He brought this lawsuit against his former employer. The lower settlement amount here is due to the fact that this was a lung cancer case as opposed to a mesothelioma case.
Fischer v American Int’l Indus. (Pennsylvania 2022) $400,000: plaintiff claimed she developed mesothelioma from occupational exposure to asbestos and/or asbestiform-containing minerals in cosmetic talcum powder that she applied to her clients as a hairdresser in the 1980s. Defendant denied that the product contained asbestos. Jury in Philadelphia awarded $400,000 in damages.
Rugg v Washington Penn Plastic Co. (Pennsylvania 2022) $3,822,000: plaintiff was employed as a maintenance worker and electrician at Washington Penn Plastic Co. from 1986 to 2015. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma and alleged electrical materials and talc he worked with at the defendant facility contained asbestos and were the cause of his diagnosis. The jury in Philadelphia awarded $1,421,669 for the plaintiff estate’s survival claim, $1,650,563 for the decedent spouse’s wrongful death claim, and $750,000 for the decedent spouse’s loss of consortium claim.
O’Reilly v US Steel Corp (Illinois 2022) $7,217,656: 62-year-old plaintiff died due to pleural mesothelioma, allegedly from asbestos exposure while working for decades as a pipefitter at various industrial facilities for over twenty years, including the two defendants: United States Steel Corporation, and Fisher Controls International, which manufactured valves used at U.S. Steel. Jury found U.S. Steel was liable based on premises liability theory and awarded $7.2 million in damages. The damages were reduced down to $4 million, however, based on the decedent’s comparative negligence.
Constantine v Lenox Instrument Co. (Pennsylvania 2022) $2,218,445: decedent in his 70s died in May of 2019 from malignant mesothelioma, allegedly due to his exposure to asbestos and during his employment with defendant Lenox Instrument Company Inc. between 1972-1981 as a draftsmen designer, working on producing a product for the Navy, ‘Lightsource’, to be used to inspect jet engines. Complaint alleged that asbestos exposure occupational exposure on a regular, frequent and proximate basis from being around asbestos containing components including a heat shield made from asbestos-cement transite board.
Abarra v Ameron Int’l Corp. (Oregon 2022) $30,000,000: wrongful death action brought by wife claiming that her husband was exposed to asbestos while working at Ameron International Corporation’s factory in La Brea, California, which used crocidolite asbestos in its manufacture of fiberglass pipe. MW Customs (f/k/a Meade) was also named as defendant because it supplied some of the raw asbestos used in the manufacture of the asbestos cement pipes. The defendants denied that the decedent was exposed to asbestos. After a 15-day trial a jury in Multnomah County awarded $30 million.
Kraemer v Lone Star Inc (Washington 2022) $10,000,000: retired school principal was exposed to asbestos during infancy through his father’s work clothes. His father worked as an insulator during World War II at shipyards on Harbor Island in Seattle, Washington. Lone Star’s predecessor Pioneer Sand and Gravel sold asbestos insulation product in Seattle that was used at the site. The plaintiff’s wife brought this wrongful death action after he died from mesothelioma and the jury awarded $10 million.
Cowger v Qualitex Co. (Illinois 2021) $23,000,000: plaintiff was an industrial laundry worker in the 1970s, and she allegedly suffered mesothelioma due to exposure to asbestos from defendant Qualitex Company’s press pads during the 1970s, as she often stood nearby when workers removed and replaced the pads once or twice a week, a routine that spread dust that she inhaled. A jury in Chicago awarded the plaintiff $23 million, consisting of $6 million for past and future loss of a normal life, $5 million each for shortened life expectancy, past and future pain and suffering and past and future emotional distress, and $2 million for disfigurement resulting from the injury.
Mada v Cincinnati Inc. (California 2021) $710,000: sheet metal worker died from pleural mesothelioma, which his surviving spouse and two adult children claimed was the result of his being exposed to asbestos fibers at work. The initial defendants included a variety of asbestos producers, which allegedly supplied asbestos containing parts to the machines the decedent operated at work. After settling with some of the defendants, the case went to trial against Cincinnati. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs but found that Cincinnati was only 5% at fault.
Woodruff v Port of Tacoma (Washington 2021) $11,216,056: plaintiff worked as a burner and laborer for 3 years (1970-73) at a shipyard in Tacoma, Washington where decommissioned naval ships were dismantled. During that time he was exposed to very high levels of airborne asbestos that was found in many different parts of the ships. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma at age 74 and filed suit against the shipyard owner based on a premises liability theory. A jury in Tacoma awarded $11.2 million, with only $216,056 for medical expenses and the rest for pain & suffering.
Jennings v Honeywell (Ohio 2021) $10,657,189: decedent died from mesothelioma at age 76 and his estate brought a wrongful death action against Honeywell Int’l (f/k/a Bendix Corp). The lawsuit alleged that the decedent worked as an auto mechanic for many years and was exposed to asbestos from working with various brake pads manufactured by the defendant. The lawsuit was based on a theory of negligent failure to warn. Jury in southern Ohio awarded $10.6 million.
Aaron v Ford Motor Co. (Louisiana 2021) $8,261,175: the plaintiff was occupationally exposed to asbestos while employed as a mechanic from 1969 to 1979 where he handled friction products including brakes and clutches designed, manufactured, supplied and sold by defendant Ford Motor Company (and several other defendants). He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2020, 41 years after his last exposure to asbestos. Ford’s defense argued that there was not sufficient evidence to show that the plaintiff actually worked with Ford Motor brakes or parts. A jury in New Orleans awarded $8.2 million against Ford and a several other defendants.
Font v Union Carbide (Florida 2021) $14,000,000: decedent died at age 74 due to mesothelioma as a result of exposure to drywall products, sprays and joint compound reportedly containing asbestos supplied by defendants Union Carbide, Georgia Pacific, and Johns Mansville, while he worked weekend side jobs with his son, who was a self-employed drywall installer from 1976 to 1980. The case went to trial in Miami and the jury awarded $14 million.