Former Construction Worker Awarded $6.8 Million in California Asbestos Lawsuit

A former freelance construction worker has won his case against a gun plastic cement manufacturer and several other companies for $6.8 million. 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.

According to Lexis Legal News, at one of his jobs, the plaintiff was asked to clean up after other workers who were applying stucco to buildings. The materials primarily responsible for his disease were used to create supportive tiers under stucco-finished construction in many buildings in the 1970s. “The work included cleaning up empty bags of cement 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 found that the company manufactured, distributed or sold gun plastic cement and that the “product failed to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect,” reports LLN. Next, the court found that the plaintiff used the products in a “reasonably foreseeable manner” and that “his exposure was a substantial factor in his risk of developing mesothelioma.”

The jury also found that found that the gun plastic cement contained “potential risks known or knowable” to the defendant and that the risks were a “substantial danger to users of the product.”

“Ordinary users would not have known of the associated risks,” and the defendant failed to warn about the risks,” the jury found.  The jury found that the plaintiff used the product in a “reasonably foreseeable manner,” and “the lack of appropriate instructions or warnings was a substantial factor” in his mesothelioma.

The jury then found the company “negligent and that the negligence was a substantial contributing factor” in the plaintiff’s mesothelioma

The jury awarded $6,811,189 to the plaintiff, comprising $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.

If you have been exposed to asbestos, see your doctor right away. Although there is no cure for mesothelioma, early detection could lead to better treatment options and outcomes.

Sources

“California Jury Awards $6.8M In Asbestos Plastic Cement Case.” Lexis Nexis Legal News. RELX Group, 04 May 2018. Web. 30 July 2018.