A California jury has awarded a former construction worker $6.8 million in an asbestos case involving a gun plastic cement manufacturer and several other companies. In the 1970s, the worker performed a number of side jobs that placed him in direct contact with a range of construction materials that contained asbestos. This included gun plastic cement manufactured by the defendant.
At one of his jobs, reports Lexis Legal News, the plaintiff was asked to clean up after other workers who were applying stucco to buildings. “The work included cleaning up empty bags of cement,” reports LLN, and “carrying bags of cement to others working at the job site.” Decades later, at 58, the now 61-year-old developed pleural mesothelioma.
The jury, which found the gun plastic cement manufacturer negligent on all fronts (product design, safety, failure-to-warn), awarded $6,811,189 to the plaintiff, consisting of $100,000 for medical expenses, $11,880 in lost household services and $67,750 in lost earnings, for a total of $179,630 in past economic damages.
The jury awarded $1,048,729 in lost future earning, $382,830 for the future loss of household services and $200,000 for future medical expenses, for a total future economic damage award of $1,631,559. The jury then awarded $500,000 for past noneconomic losses and $4.5 million for future noneconomic losses.
Other Cases Against the Defendant
The gun plastic cement manufacturer in this case has been at the center of many other cases related to its asbestos products and liability. One case ended with a $300,000 verdict against the company. The plaintiff in the case had developed lung cancer resulting from asbestos exposure from the company’s products. In another case, the defendant settled prior to jury selection for $650,000 to the plaintiffs, who developed a number of asbestos-related diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. The plaintiff’s had worked with or around the defendant’s asbestos products for a number of years.
What to Do if You Have Been Exposed to Asbestos
If you have been exposed to asbestos, see your doctor right away. Asbestos is the only cause of mesothelioma—a devastating cancer with no cure. Diagnosis and treatments for mesothelioma have greatly improved over the years, however, particularly for those who are diagnosed early.
Even if you do not have any symptoms, see your doctor. He can refer you to a mesothelioma specialist who can establish a monitoring plan, which can greatly improve the chances of detecting the disease sooner and in its most treatable stages. Talk to your doctor about your risk today.
Sources
“California Jury Awards $6.8M In Asbestos Plastic Cement Case.” Lexis Nexis Legal News. RELX Group, 04 May 2018. Web. 30 July 2018.
