DUPONT ASBESTOS TRIAL
Texas judge grants date for new mesothelioma trial against DuPont

February 5, 2009 -- A few months after attorneys for DuPont convinced a Jefferson County, Tex., jury that the company was not responsible for a former contractor's asbestos-caused mesothelioma, the judge granted the plaintiff's motion for a new trial, slated for April.

At the original trial, held last February and March in the 172nd District Court of Texas, jurors found no negligence on the part of DuPont and awarded nothing to the plaintiff’s family in the case of Willis Whisnant Jr. et al vs. DuPont.

The plaintiffs claimed that Whisnant contracted mesothelioma and died because of his exposure to asbestos at DuPont's Sabine River Works. Whisnant was a former B.F. Shaw pipe fitter who worked at DuPont 40 years ago as an independent contractor. Mesothelioma, the deadliest form of asbestos-caused cancer, often takes decades to appear after an occupational asbestos exposure.

During the trial, plaintiffs attorney argued that there had been indisputable evidence that DuPont knew of the hazards of asbestos for decades, but failed to provide a safe place to work or properly warn workers of the danger.

A month following the verdict, plaintiffs’ attorney submitted a motion for a new trial, arguing that the jury verdict was completely contradictory to the preponderance of the evidence, and that coverage of the trial by a local newspaper, distributed free outside the court and owned by a party sympathetic to DuPont, may have influenced the jury's decision.

The judge in the case granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial without giving a reason for his decision.

The truth about asbestos

Despite the fatal consequences associated with long-term asbestos exposure, asbestos is still imported and used in the United States, which imported and used an estimated 1,820 tons of asbestos in 2007, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Medical sources estimate that in the next decade more than 35,000 people nationwide will be diagnosed with the deadliest form of asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma. This disease is most often the result of industrial workplace exposure to asbestos – and usually contracted through employers’ blatant disregard for the health and safety of their workers.

Time to seek justice!

People diagnosed with mesothelioma and their family members have strong cases in court. Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of workers for 25 years – longer than most law firms in the nation. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients.

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, and seek FREE legal guidance and answers to your concerns, please notify us through the communication form below. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, future and past lost wages, and damages. There is no cost to you until we win a settlement or a verdict.