Did You Know?
So far, $54 billion has been spent on asbestos claims, with the total projected to grow to between $200 billion and $265 billion when all the cases are settled, according to the Rand study.
Mesothelioma Cancer Widow Awarded $2.6 Million in Asbestos Lawsuit
April 24, 2003
A jury awarded a woman $4.2 million for the death of her husband who died after developing mesothelioma from asbestos exposure in 1956. The mesothelioma sufferer had been an electrician for just 33 days at a shipyard and was heavily exposed to Kaylo, an asbestos covering once used to insulate steam pipes. The mesothelioma attorney noted that the company had known about the dangers of their asbestos-ridden products as far back as 1944. The company is appealing the asbestos lawsuit award.
April 2, 2003
An Illinois ordered United States Steel Corp. to pay $250 million to a former employee who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The company decided to settle for $50 million. In New York, a jury awarded $47 million to a former utility worker that had developed mesothelioma after working in plants owned by Con Ed and Long Island Lighting.
March 28, 2003
Corning Inc., the No. 1 maker of fiber-optic cable, said on Friday it has reached an agreement to settle all current and future asbestos claims, and will take an after-tax charge of about $200 million.
Halliburton to Settle All Asbestos Claims
12/18/02 - Halliburton Co. said on Wednesday it had reached agreement in principle to settle hundreds of thousands of personal injury asbestos claims by paying more than $4 billion in cash and stock.
DuPont Ordered to Pay Survivors
03/06/02 - A Kanawha County jury has ordered DuPont to pay $6.4 million to the family of a man who died after being exposed as a child to asbestos fibers in his father's work clothes.
The verdict was one of five that jurors delivered last Friday following a three-week trial before two judges appointed by the state Supreme Court to handle all asbestos-related claims.
In the first claim, Leonard Dale Cox, chief executive officer of the Bank of Gassaway in Braxton County, died in 2000 at the age of 53 from mesothelioma, a rare and fatal tumor in the lining of the lung.
Cox had never worked with asbestos but his father, Cecil Cox, had installed asbestos insulation at DuPont's Belle plant from the 1940s until he retired in the 1970s, according to court records.
Leonard Cox's survivors sued DuPont, alleging the company was responsible for his death.
The jury's award includes $1.7 million for Cox's lost earnings, $2 million for Cox's widow, $300,000 to each of his two children for their loss, another $2 million for his pain and suffering and $118,000 for medical bills.
$1M Asbestos Award Upheld
A Wisconsin state appeals court on Tuesday upheld a $1.05 million award to a woman whose husband died of cancer that a jury found was caused by workplace asbestos.
Mary Anderson of Franklin sued Combustion Engineering, a U.S. unit of Swiss industrial group ABB AG, and several other companies over her husband Jerold Anderson's May 1998 death at age 68. Jerold Anderson worked for 39 years as a machinist for Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and was diagnosed with cancer of the lining of the lung.
Alton worker awarded $16 million in asbestos lawsuit
A man who developed cancer from breathing asbestos is awarded 16 million dollars in his lawsuit against owners of a now-defunct glass container plant.
West Texas jury awards Amarillo couple $11.1 million
A Nolan County jury has awarded an Amarillo couple $11.1 million after a jury decided the husband's lung cancer may have been caused by asbestos exposure.
Since 2000, more than 100,000 claims have been filed against scores of companies. One study estimates there may be 3 million claims before it's all over. One jury awarded $150 million to six plaintiffs who were exposed to asbestos dust but don't have cancer - they just fear that one day they might get it.
