Document G5LNbEQYBwbQeLdaJbQOKj14m

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT ARCO 48 I. r-T.r.: ____ # _____________ .... - -- - _ *t I%6 THE "WALL STREET JOURNAL TUESDAY^ MAY 14. 1991 /<; M e y\ e flMITIVE DAMAGES AWARDED in mar- ItlfiB aj&Slos Ml , **'"* Cleveland jury in federal court ' awarded $650,000 in punitive damages to the estate of Maurice J. Moline, a mer chant seaman who died in 1988 at the age of 61 from mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer believed to be caused by as bestos. ' r r. ' 1 Until the 1970s, merchant ships were . bunt using asbestosJibe suit alleged that ~13 companiesThat bwiied'ships on which Mr. Moline sailed from 1944 until 1969 knew about the health daneers associated with asbestos and failed-to warn Mr. Mo- line andother crew members. Among the . "defendants are American President lines Ltd.-and Matson Navigation C&rboth based in San Francisco. - - The punitive award is believed to be the .first by a juiy against a shipping company r in a maritime asbestos case and could have implications for the more than 20,000 similar cases pending around the country, said Leonard Jaques, a Detroit admiralty lawyer who is handling-the majority of those cases. -* - - . .-_ But Thomas O. Murphy, a Cleveland ' lawyer who represented three of the defen dants, said punitive damages are inappro priate because the shipping companies "didn't know any more about the dangers of asbestos than anyone else." He said an appeals court has yet to address whether punitive damages are . viable in maritime asbestos cases. He said his clients tall appeal. .... . # -* * ,