Inspiring stories of favorable verdicts for sufferers of asbestos-related diseases

Weitz & Luxenberg would like to tell you the stories of just a few of our favorable verdicts. We have helped guide the following people from a devastating diagnosis to the proper compensation which afforded them a small measure of financial freedom and stability. We know that no amount of money can ease your grief, but it can take away the necessary financial burdens of medical expenses, travel costs, and debt.

Different people with one thing in common: asbestos exposure

In 1962, the same year that Marilyn Monroe died and Johnny Carson signed on to host The Tonight Show, Joseph D. first started working for Treadwell corporations as a laborer. He was commissioned to do all-purpose labor and cleaning in some of New York’s powerhouses.

Around the same time, Edward M. took a job as a boilermaker, but it is unclear whether he crossed paths with Robert L. who was also working at the same company as a steamfitter.

While Edward, Robert, and Joseph were working in their respective jobs, Marvin P. was considering changing his.

Marvin worked for the post office for 36 years. In the late 1960’s, he decided to attend dental technician school in pursuit of a radical career change. The career change ended up not being what he wanted and he continued his work at the post office. During his brief interest in being a dental technician, he needed to make castings by carving wax replicas of teeth. He did this with the help of multi-purpose dental tape.

Even though Marvin’s career change proved to be unsuccessful, Frank P’s was. Frank worked in the assembly line in a Johns-Manville factory in the early 1940’s. He stayed there for about a year and then left to join the Coast Guard. There he worked as an engine man.

Even though, all of these men never met one another, they all share a common thread. Each one, in ways from common to bizarre, was exposed to asbestos. In turn, each one developed an asbestos-related disease.

While Edward Martin and Robert were working on building boilers and fitting pipes, they invariably came in contact with asbestos. It was common for both steamfitters and boilermakers to use asbestos in their work. Rather than installing it, Joseph was in charge of cleaning asbestos out of the powerhouses in New York. Frank helped make asbestos products when he assembled asbestos tiles in the Johns-Manville factory.

The way Marvin was exposed was not like the others at all – in fact it was rather unusual altogether. He was exposed when he worked with dental tape that contained asbestos during his brief education in dental technician school.

The disease progresses

For fifteen years Joseph D. worked as a laborer, and then he took the position of executive board member of Local 13, mason tender union. Shortly after, his doctor diagnosed him asbestosis.

Around the same time, Edward Martin and Robert Letteire both developed asbestos-related lung cancer, while Marvin Penn was diagnosed with the dreaded disease mesothelioma. Even after working in the Johns-Manville factory, Frank Pankowitz dealt with asbestos in the engine room of his ship, the Navosank. Many years later he developed a rarer form of cancer called peritoneal mesothelioma.

All of these men, at one point, realized that there were companies responsible for making them sick. It was then that they decided to seek legal counsel from Weitz & Luxenberg. Because we have over twenty years of experience in handling mesothelioma cases, we were able to identify the place, time, and parties responsible for each of these illnesses. All of these men decided to pursue financial compensation from the negligent companies that made them ill.

The trials

Previous cases had set a precedent that certain companies had prior knowledge that asbestos was harmful. Marvin, Robert, Edward, and Joseph – along with the help of Weitz & Luxenberg –needed to provide proper documentation proving that they were working in an area with asbestos and were not given proper protection. Weitz & Luxenberg was able to uncover and organize all of this information. From there, it was up to the companies’ attorneys to decide how to proceed.

Marvin P. went up against the Kerr Corporation (a company that made the dental tape that contained the asbestos), but Weitz & Luxenberg found that Marvin was also exposed to asbestos from other sources including his father’s job. Marvin decided to pursue legal action against all sources of exposure because each incident could have caused his asbestos cancer, but it was impossible to say which one.

The attorneys for the other side tried to deny all liability of Robert and Martin’s lung cancer because they said that the men were smokers – the company claimed that it was the cigarettes that caused the lung cancer (Lexisone.com). So, the cases need to go to trial. Time passed for Edward and Robert while waiting for the other side to respond (as is typical in the legal process), but it was time they did not have. Both passed away before their trials were scheduled to begin. While grieving, their family members took up their cases in their stead.

The results

Frank P’s case was joined with the asbestos cases of three other men, which expedited the legal process. In 2001, the courts awarded the four of them a total of over $65 million. The smoking defense was rejected in the courts and in 2007, over $20 million in compensation was awarded to Edward’s widow. In the same year, Robert’s family received over $10 million.

Weitz & Luxenberg attorney, James C. Long, Jr., who represented the estates of these two men, said, “our clients suffered greatly. We are pleased that the jury was receptive to the evidence that established the substantive role that exposure to asbestos plays in the development of lung cancer and other debilitating diseases.”

One year later, in 2008, Marvin P. was awarded over $16 million in compensation for his mesothelioma. While all of this was happening, Joseph D.’s legal battles were over. Like most asbestos cases Weitz & Luxenberg handles, Joseph’s case never went to trial. The companies responsible for his asbestosis settled, and he was awarded a fair settlement. He started receiving payments in 1999, and they continued as each company responsible settled. His last compensation payment from a company was in 2008.

We can help you too

Should you decide to pursue compensation from a negligent company that made you ill, Weitz & Luxenberg has the resources and experience to help you with your case. For a free legal consultation, simply fill out the form on this page and a representative will be in touch within 24 hours.

Source

Lexisone.com: http://www.lexisone.com/news/nlibrary/m040507l.html