$53,000,000.00 Verdict

New York Jury Awards a $53-Million VerdictTo Asbestos Victim and Family
Mealey's Litigation Report2/15/2002

In one of the largest compensatory verdicts for a single plaintiff in the history of Asbestos litigation, a New York jury on Feb. 8 awarded a Mesothelioma victim and his family a $53 million verdict for his Asbestos exposure as a brake mechanic (Patricia Brown, Individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Stephen Brown v. AC&S Corp. et al., No. 12658-00, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.)

After a monthlong trial in New York County Supreme Court, the jury awarded Stephen Brown''s family $53 million against 36 companies for his death from Mesothelioma as a result of exposure to Asbestos from work he performed as a brake mechanic.


The jury deliberated for a week before rendering the verdict and apportioning liability between 36 companies. A source told Mealey''s that Honeywell, successor to Bendix Corp., is liable for 45.75 percent of the $53 million verdict.


Brown worked as a brake mechanic at a gas station in Cambridge, Mass., from 1965 to 1968 and from 1972 to 1974. From 1968 to 1972, he was enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and worked at various job sites in engine and boiler rooms. In 1974, Brown returned to the Coast Guard; he retired from the guard in 1990. In April 2000, Brown was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and sued 48 friction product companies, alleging that they were negligent for exposing him to Asbestos from brake linings he used during his two stints as a brake mechanic. In December 2000, Brown died of Mesothelioma at age 51.

His suit was carried on by his wife, Patricia, and his two sons, Adam and Jason.

At trial, the Browns presented several expert witnesses to prove Brown''s friction exposure, including state of the art expert David Egilman, an epidemiologist from Brown University in Providence, R.I.; Elaine Panitz, M.D., occupational medicine, Massachusetts; Douglas Pohl, Ph.D,M.D., pathologist, Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine; and Yasunosuke Suzuki, M.D., pathologist, N.Y.


The friction companies contended that Brown''s exposure was not from brake linings but from his employment in the Coast Guard. The companies also used the chrysotile defense, claiming that not enough dust is emitted from brake linings to cause a significant exposure or disease.


Expert witnesses who testified on behalf of the friction companies included Pulmonologist James Crapo, M.D., of Denver and Epidemiologist Alexander Walker from New York. Representing the Browns are Jerry Kristal, Michael P. Roberts and Richard Meadow of Weitz & Luxenberg in New York. Honeywell is represented by Jeff Peck of Drinker, Biddle & Shanley in Florham Park, NJ.

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Awarded over $10,000,000.00


A San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded $10.3 million in economic and non-economic damages Monday in an asbestos case brought by a 60-year-old man allegedly suffering from mesothelioma.




Jeffrey Kaiser of San Francisco plaintiffs firm Levin Simes Kaiser & Gornick said it's a big verdict for his relatively new firm, and that he thinks it's one of California's 10 largest compensatory verdicts for asbestos cases in the last 15 years.




Even in the best scenario, however, plaintiff George Barnes won't collect nearly that much. The jury only attributed 15 percent of the harm to Thorpe Insulation Co., the lone named defendant at trial.



By the time Judge Diane Wick makes a final ruling on the company's liability, Barnes will probably only be entitled to about $2.3 million from Thorpe, Kaiser said.


Kaiser also does not expect Thorpe will have the assets to pay, meaning his firm is now bracing to go to battle against the insulation company's insurers over coverage. "Unfortunately, I expect they'll continue to deny coverage and we'll have to litigate with the insurance companies," Kaiser said.


Levin Simes Senior Attorney Martha Berman represented Barnes and his wife, Darlene, at trial.
The jury identified $9 million in non-economic damages for physical pain or mental suffering in its special verdict Monday. The rest, all economic damages, included $210,000 for medical bills, $861,083 for past and future income, and $178,974 for the loss of Barnes' services around his family's two-acre property. They found Darlene Barnes' loss of consortium worth another $100,000.


There were no punitive damages; Kaiser said the plaintiff did not argue negligence. Kaiser noted Barnes and his wife were both 60 years old, and both testified. "Mr. Barnes had basically worked for 25 years as a union shipfitter. ... He had a very nice life, and a nice family, and I think the jury recognized that he's going to lose it all."


The jury attributed 15 percent of Barnes' harm to Thorpe, 5 percent to the plaintiff himself, 55 percent to his former employer, the U.S. Navy, and 25 percent to other manufacturers and distributors.


Jane Yee, the Bishop, Barry, Howe, Haney & Ryder lawyer who represented Thorpe at trial, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Garrett Sanderson III, a partner in the defense-side toxic tort group at Carroll, Burdick & McDonough, wasn't familiar with the details in Barnes v. Thorpe Insulation Co., 446017. But he noted that a defendant's trial success can be relative, depending on how an adverse judgment compares to the settlement demands they had faced. Barnes did settle with several other defendants, Kaiser said, but the details were confidential.

His firm, three of whose name partners are former defense lawyers from the defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, usually aims to settle, he added.
"We've only had to try four cases in the 3 and 1/2 years we've been in business," he said.

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