Personal Injury Settlement and Verdict

Damages of $104 Million Awarded in Consolidated Asbestos Cases

National Law Journal, 9/30/2001

Jury Verdicts on the damages were reached this week in federal court in Brooklyn and state court in Manhattan. The approximately 100 cases involve former employees of the Brooklyn Navy Yard who were exposed to asbestos during their work many years ago. The main defendants in the cases were Owens-Illinois Inc., Keene Corp. and the Manville asbestos personal-injury trust. The trust, currently being restructured, was formed as part of Manville Corp.'s bankruptcy reorganization plan to pay asbestos personal injury claims.

Asbestos, once widely used as insulation and in other industries, causes cancer and respiratory illlnesses. Perry Weitz, one of the main attorneys for plaintiffs in the case, said, "Companies should realize that when these cases are tried, the juries' reaction is that these diseases are extremeley severe and warrant large amounts of money."

Attorneys for the defendants couldn't be reached for comment. The cases are part of about 500 Brooklyn Navy Yard asbestos lawsuits being handled by federal Judge Jack B. Weinstein of Brooklyn and state Justice Helen Freedman of Manhattan.

$53 million verdict — brake mechanic suffering from mesothelioma

$13.5 million verdict — one of the very first Vioxx trial cases

$15 million settlement — man wound up a paraplegic due to negligent hospital care

$37 million verdict — 2 asbestos lung cancer plaintiffs

$47 million verdict — boilermaker who died from mesothelioma

$75 million verdict — historic consolidated trial involving men who had worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in the 1940s and 1950s

$12.7 million verdict — iron worker who was injured due to unsafe working conditions

$64.65 million award — 4 asbestos plaintiffs

$17.5 million — consolidated trial of 5 mesothelioma victims

$25 million jury verdict — brake reliner

$5.8 million settlement — failure to perform timely C-Section

$30 million verdict — 7 former power-plant workers suffering from asbestos-related illnesses

$6 million settlement — pediatric malpractice case

$14 million consolidated verdict — 5 asbestos-related cancer suits: shipyards/powerhouses/construction

$8 million settlement — obstetrical malpractice resulted in neurological deficits

$3.5 million — 2 asbestos exposure cases

$600,000 settlement — motor vehicle negligence resulting in serious injury

$44 million verdict — 5 asbestos cases, including $11.6 million awarded to widow of sheet metal worker who died of mesothelioma

$1.6 million settlement — suicide after premature hospital discharge

$2.6 million settlement — ill-fitting prosthesis caused decubitus ulcers

$1.5 million settlement — construction worker fell off elevated train tracks

$750,000 settlement — defective construction equipment resulted in serious injury to worker