Mass tort and personal injury litigation firm Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. today announced a verdict in the case of Ivo John Peraica, an asbestos removal worker who died in December from cancer caused by asbestos. The New York Supreme Court jury that heard Peraica’s case returned its verdict Friday, awarding $35 million to the Croatian-born worker.
Peraica, of Queens, worked for eight years for New York-area contractors removing asbestos insulation from boilers, pumps, and other equipment. He died on December 28 from complications related to mesothelioma, a cancer whose only known cause is exposure to toxic asbestos fibers.
Before his death, he provided deposition testimony to Weitz & Luxenberg. The trial team read the testimony into evidence.
Weitz & Luxenberg’s trial team of Jerry Kristal, Adam Cooper, and Danny R. Kraft, Jr. told the jury that Peraica’s disease was caused by years of inhaling the asbestos dust stirred up each time he stripped asbestos insulation from the equipment at his jobsites — equipment which, according to testimony, was devoid of any warnings about the dangers of asbestos.
