Document RjLp16ENp0MZkw94ObEJb206k

FILE NAME: St. Gobain (SG) DATE: 1998 Feb 20 DOC#: SG003 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Houston Article - 21 Steelworkers who Contracted Asbestos Disease Win $115 MflR-2?-1998 16=16 L.P.&S. P.C. P .02/03 Houston Chronicle --------- --------- - ' : Friday, Feb. 20,1998 ! : ' .' " 21 steelworkers who contracted asbestos disease win $115 million By STEVE 0 U F 5 0 N Houston Cftronicte - ANGLETON --A Brazoria County ju ry aw arded m illion to 21 steelworkers Thursday for asbestos d is u s e they contracted a t an Ala bama. steel mill Finding th at The Carborundum Co. acted w ith gross negligence and malIce, the ju ry assessed 5100 million in punitive damages ag ain st the com pany, w hich m an u factu red an asbestos-containing grinding wheel that was used to cut pipe a t the U.S. Steel pM*nt in Birmingham. E a rlie r to th e day, ju ro rs had agreed on a$15.5 muSon judgment against the company for tailing to warn the men of health dangers they faced when using the cutting tooL .. The judgm ent w as th e nation's first asbestos-related jury' aw ard again st j griwHiiigj t h f e l m anufoc- turer. The attorney for Carborundum, contending that jurors were swayed fay.emotion, said he probably will ap peal the decfefon. -The steehrariDHS, while apprecia tive offie venikrt, said the judgment won't compensate them for their der4fwm^f VioaMi "This is great, hutTve got to walk around w ifi it in n y Itmgs the rest of my fife," said Jackie Davis, 47. "1 feel Eke justice has been done, but money's no good to a dead man." Some of the m en said they hope that, should they succumb to asbes tos disease, the judgment wiH help their families. - Extensive medical testimony foam both sides was heard before state DistrictJudge Bm lfairdin during fie See asbesto s on page it* . Asbestos Continued hum Page 1A. four-week triaL TMfadicai w iw k far the steelwork, ers testified that 18 of the Alabama m en s u ffe r ftvrni gghutireig an in w ir. able disease in which lung tissue is scarred from the inhalation at air borne asbestos fibers. The other three plaintiffs have asbestosis symp toms, they said. Medical testimony for die defense . contended that fie m ftl suffered ail m ents unrelated to asbestos. The steclwni*ers\ attorney, Mark Lanier of Houston, said fie lawsuit w as tried in Ibxas because an Ala bam a law requires that asbestos law suits be fifed within a year of expo sure. .Symptoms of asbestosis may not becom e evident untfi 15 to 20 years after exposure, he said. Jurors, after rendering their ver dict, said they wanted to punish the company for continuing to m arket the cutting tod long after it became known fia t asbestos causes serious health problems. "They deHberately fet these men work with fiin es f ia t w ere hazard ous to flick benfth, and I think fia t's just a shame,* said ju ro r Sue Mann, ty jr f Gtote^a labor union business The steelw orkers did not u se masks while wielding th e cutting tool indhes from their a c e s. Two of the original plaintiffs died of cancer be fore fieur lawsuit reached the court room, and those still living say they suffer sh o rtn ess of breath ana chronic coughing. The claim s of the two who died were settled out of court. "We didn't know what we were us ing was harmful," said plaintiff Wil liam Nangher, 52. "Then fievtum ed their b ad e on us and said )Hey, it's not our fault'" L anier said it probably w ill be years before his clients r eceiwe any money because of probable appeals. "Tneyn hope some oftheseMtows pass away before they have to pay anything,* he said. During f ie punitive phase of fie trial, he asked the ju ry to cntioirWawattfing $15.31 b3Son m damages -- m ore than th e tobacco industry's settlement with the state of Texas. "1was dead serious. This is a com pany fia t sold their wheels off fie back ofAmerican labor," Lanier said. "As soon as th e a sb e sto s c a s e s andtm dtoM de. Atleast the tobacco companies started admitting they fid something wrong." CarbccuadtBn moved its corporate headquarters to P aris and tra n s ferred its bonded abrasives division to Brazil in the 1380s, be said. C arborundum 's a tto rn e y , J e f f Marsh of Houston, said he w as "ab solutely astounded" f ia t ju ra ts as- that they let i workers affect their i "The plaintiffe: were nice individu als and I think the emotional effect of th a r testimony overcame a kit of the medical issues,* M arsh arid, Larry Kaitner, one of twojurors to ages, said his fellow ju ro rs dis counted defense medical testimony that fevered Carborundum. "I still fed EkePleathe onty m e th at got it right," said Kattner, 43, an air txaffic cnntroBer from Pearland. Nevertheless it took only about 30 minutes for 10 of the jurors to agree on fie $loo mffieQ punitive damage judgm ent 03/27/98 18:12 TX/RX NO.1893 P.002 MAR-27-1998 16:16 L.P.&S. P.C. P.03^03 JS|: BRUARY 2 0 , 1 9 9 8 asbestos trial Jury awards nill workers 115 million P86GY O'HARE Eighteen of the form er m ill `Fact* -------------------------- workers diagnosed with asbestosis '<v will receive $850,000 each. Three ` ANGLETON -- A B razoria other plaintiffs who appear to suf- nnty jury Thursday awarded 15.0 million to a group of. fort Alabama, steel mill workers for symptoms o f the illness, bat whose X-rays did not confirm asbestosis. will receive $100,000 rased to an asbestos-containing each. nding wheel. * Ten of the 12 jurors agreed on The verdict was a stunning the decision.. tw to The C arborundnm A ttorneys for Carborundum mpany, which m anufactured said the company win appeal and :anting wheel in question. But ask for a new trial. : emotional impact' of the mas-- ' The heart of the case focused e award was felt far and wide on whether the company knew die the courtroom, mewing to tears B lack M agic Diam ond W heel reral of the mill workers who contained asbestos and continued feted serious medical problems to-use it anyway. being exposed to the Attorneys for the 21 form er lestos. After concluding the company cd w ith gross negligence and steel mill workers said the men inhaled asbestos fibers shot into the air by the cutting wheel and d ice, th e jury, aw arded the fell victim to a "conspiracy o f nntiffis 'a .whopping. $100 mil- silence." Din punitive d a m a g e s :- ' B ut the defense argued there That does not include $15.6 - was no evidence to indicate the Ilian in compensatory damages grinding wheel was defective or arded foT the 21 p la in tiffs' , that tiie men suffered from any are medical eare,Jfin ^ ^p h y !^ ^' .asbes^-related diseases. I im pairm ent,'fuiii^e-m enlalv vPl;wntiff^ attorney W. M ark ptish and pbystealpamL : V |5 ? Laitier urged the jury 'to send a Of the $100 million in punitive' message, to the world. He asked m ages, each p la in tiff was for ptmitiye'damage higher than arded an equal 4.76 percent , the recent $15.3biilion settlement ire, or $4.76 million. _ ; between Texasand the tobacco The $15.6 m illion'hi conqien- 1industry, ory damages for future medical *Tfa person kills someone, you and pain will be split differ- can throw them in jail. You can't .y* - W here Texas Began FRIDAY Trial ^Ol. 84, No. 350 Copyright f 99B 1C ontinued from P ag e 1A do that with a corporation," Lanier told the jury Thursday, "What line do you (assess) for killing hundreds of thousands of peo ple? t "I have a serious problem with compa nies that have made their money off the sweat o f people, and at the first sign of titrable, they go international and sell out America," Lanier said. "If you want to send a global message that is heard around the world ... you m il change the way foreign companies do business with us. You have the ability to send a message all the way to France and ail the way to Brazil." D efense attorney Jeffrey H. M arsh asked that no punitive dam ages be assessed, noting the $15.6 million awarded for future medical care and suffering was "far, far, fa r more than anybody ever could've expected." The jury deliberated for only about 35 m inutes before returning with its final answer for punitive damages: $100 million. Several jurors wept openly after the decision was announced. The jury wanted to get its point across "without being too vicious," one juror, said later, " am i n o w D j w r r n j w n saiu ne.ana (US peers deckled against a f t billion judgm ent' because such a stiff amount could lake15 years to pay. "I think the reason we wentt the way we did -- the company knew iQ was an unsafe product. They continued to~ usp if after fading told not to, knowing it would injure people," Newby said. .Lutier.-said Brazoria County should be iratiifaK tW ioiy's decision. D b e first time in America this been held responsible for nds of deaths," Lanier said. 1 j has been in two other trit admitted in our case they _ _ _ _ _ u t of those other trials. This /m cognizedthat" j . for Carborundum said the jury s decision was based on emotion and was totally unexpected- Marsh said there was no evidence any asbestos was ever inhaled, nor was there any evidence o f , ,nj^SL'or resulting from such activity! T h e proof against The Carborundum Company was simply non-existent In terms o f w hether the product was defective'" Marsh said. N TOTAL P.03 03/27/98 18:12 TX/RX NO.1893 P.003