Document QgZ23d7BqVNoRraoL8EE0D8O8

FILE NAME: Allied Signal Bendix (ASB) DATE: 1990 May 1 DOC#: ASB092 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Asbestos Victims Win Case THE TIMES UNIONi Tuesdy|| May 1,1990V $Jt ho Asbestos T > : X CoyjevsZ. \ victims -c win case Firm must pay more than $1M B y Jo h n C ah er ' Staff writer T . itoutf. b. k.P/b*L k ; O/^tOL^lG^r K <A/LCerf T/&if hfft S&J&ZAL Meso ALBANY -- A federal court jury Monday evening awarded a total of $1,167,159 to two area residents who suffered health problems because to their exposure to asbestos. In two cases tried jointly before U.S. District Judge Con. G. Cholakis,. the jury found Celotex Corp., one of' 'ithe two companies on trial, liable for dam ages to the estate of Frank G am bacorta of Albany and to Charles William Hamilton of Hannacroix, Greene County. irOQuiPiES ere. AS 4 H e s u L T o f Tr(S AP-TtCte. lcutb A lp ic a rtre cc^ m&i Ts, i S u 6 6 3 7 ? o ajS The Gam bacorta estate was awarded 994,326 and Hamilton and his wife, Elizabeth, were awarded $172,833. /&M7we tz> w eb//1 ert. The jury said the other firm on trial, Carey Canada Inc., was not. liable. Suits against several other ' firm s were settled prior to trial for undisclosed amounts. In the Gambacorta case, the widow, Mary G am bacorta, had sought $4.5 million alleging that Gambacorta suffered from asbestosis 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 : 3 - 'BATFH/fr c r - Fbu<o7)i<Aj Pa t e l &> V, KeiM f\. S c t $2,840,933, but apportioned only 35 percent of the liability on the Celotex Corp. In the Hamilton case, the p a n e ls computed damages totaling $864,166 V and set Celotex's responsibility at 20 y percent. - Hamilton worked as an installer from 1945 to 1981, when he was * disabled with asbestosis at 56. The jury was charged with deter-^S mining a number of complicated Ip issues, beyond the obvious questions ^ of whether the plaintiffs were in-^f jured and whether their in juries!* resulted because the defendants ne glected to warn them of the hazards l! of asbestos exposure. :'t Cholakis also directed the panel to ,1 determine which of a total of nine A companies were also negligent and ~ to apportion liability appropriately.-^ He also told the jury to determine J! whether Hamilton was at all respon-' i sible for his own injuries and, if so, to . i what extent. Hamilton, although testimony in- -?!; dicated that he had at some point . 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 $3 million in compensatory I damages to Raymond and Janet i Walters of 155 Lincoln Ave. That i judgment, against Celotex and Carey \ Canada, is currently under appeal. ! 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. \ WCK008480