ASBESTOS IN THE NEWS
Multimillion-dollar verdict for family of Kansas City man who died of mesothelioma

Jury awards surviving members of a Kansas City tile installer $4.5M in an asbestos-related mesothelioma case.

Weitz & Luxenberg has protected the legal rights of workers since 1986. And in that time the firm's mesothelioma lawyers have won several billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients injured by job-related asbestos exposure.

Asbestos in Kansas City

August 18, 2009 – Irony knows no bounds. Thirty years ago, in the process of trying to keep people safe from fire by manufacturing and distributing fire-retardant tiles and other products, corporations were actually harming thousands of workers who regularly came in close contact with asbestos-containing materials, such as fire-resistant tiles, drywall, insulation, and joint compounds.

Case in point: Early this summer, a jury ruled in a mesothelioma lawsuit that three companies were responsible for manufacturing and distributing asbestos-laden ceiling tiles and awarded $4.5 million to the surviving family members of a Kansas City man who installed those tiles. The family breadwinner died six months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma and was not able to be deposed for the trial.

It became known during the trial that the defendant companies offered both asbestos and non-asbestos tiles some 30 years ago, when the installer was employed. Today, many of these products are made with safer materials.

But despite the current trend to move away from asbestos-containing materials in products, asbestos is still imported into the United States. The United States imported and used an estimated 1,820 tons of asbestos in 2007, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Government 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. Mesothelioma is most often the result of asbestos exposure on jobs – and usually contracted through employers’ blatant disregard for the health and safety of their workers.

Time to seek justice

If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma and seek a FREE case review, please notify us through the communication form on this page. We will pursue your claim with vigilance to help you pay for medical bills, future and past lost wages, and suffering. There is no cost to you until we win a settlement or a verdict.