Document 7OzoxXXdxVz57oedG51k52KVa

FILE NAME: Allied Signal Bendix (ASB) DATE: 1990 May 1 DOC#: ASB 102 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Asbestos Victims Win Case, Partially Redacted and with Attached Note -i *L*-*' * THE TIMES Tuesday^ In the Hamilton case, the pane computed damages totaling ^ and set May 1, 199Qje Hamilton worked as an installer from 1945 to 1981, when he was disabled with asbestosis at 56. , The jury was charged with deter*, mining a number of complicated issues, beyond the obvious questions^ 5 )ho sa 'fe, : X C ocer#. Asbestos . K. H4tod r. fyticud b. k.P faL victims Ki0qt!0uiGr win case I K- of whether the plaintiffs were in-% jured and whether their injuries' resulted because the defendants ne-! glected to warn them of the hazards of asbestos exposure. ^ Cholakis also directed the panel to determine which of a total of nine companies were also negligent and to apportion liability appropriately. He also told the jury to determine .| whether Hamilton was at all respon- _ sible for his own injuries and, if so, to what extent. ' _ Hamilton, although testimony i n - ^ dicated that he had at some point Firm must pay more than By John Caher Staff writer ALBANY - A federal court jury Monday evening awarded a total of two area residents who ufferedhealth problems because to their exposure to asbestos. . In two cases tried jointly before U.S. District JudgeC on^^holakis,. the jury found f lH f lH j H B , one of Mthe two companies on trial,liable for damages to the estate of Frank Gambacorta of Albany and to Charles William Hamilton .of Hanna- croix, Greene County. The Gambacorta estate was awarded snd Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth, were awarded T/Zoy A/s S iu irtL *ie M es p g u ix tiC * io#KStfS h fiy 6 G Hebi4 fQkui&es ere- 4S 4 H e s u L T o f Tri5 fPPoFatrF C^M&tTs 4 Su 66^7?>oS I^XJ\T)^e Tb Mb4 ert. been warned to stop working with . asbestos, was not found'contributorily negligent by the four women and two men on the jury. On Monday afternoon, the panel, which began deliberating Friday but were excused over the weekend,, requested additional information on how damages should be awarded. A' verdict returned around 5:30 p.m. was based solely on compensatory damages. The jury did not assess punitive damages, which are designed to punish a wrongdoer and deter simi lar conduct. In a similar case last summer, a federal jury in Albany awarded nearly B B f l B in compensatory damages to Raymond and Janet Walters of 155 Lincoln Ave. That judgment, against 4B B g|nnd 1 is currently under appeal The j u trial, liable. said the other firm on was not. In the Gambacorta case, the. widow, Mary Gambacorta, had sought alleging that Gambacorta suffered from asbesto*, sis and mesothelioma because he worked with asbestos between 1947 and 1987 as an insulation installer. Gambacorta died in 1987 at 60. The jury found damages totaling U : J . 3/lTFtyfjO tr. Pou^THi^ tr P/\teL G Gw V. e i M ' S ft. SceTt State and federal courts have been bombarded with asbestos claims since the state Legislature in 1986 allowed victims of several hazard ous substances -- including asbestos -- to sue for damages even though the statute of limitations had long since expired. The rationale for the Toxic Tort Act of 1986 was that victims of some products, such as asbestos, frequently don't exhibit symptoms for up to 20 years. - Cholakis currently has about 550 asbestos cases pending. W CK008480