St. Louis Jury Renders $4.69 Billion Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson in Talc Trial St. Louis Circuit Court, July 12, 2018

MISSOURI — On July 12, 2018, a St. Louis Circuit Court jury rendered a verdict against Johnson & Johnson in less than eight hours of deliberation following a six week trial involving 22 plaintiffs who alleged their ovarian cancer was caused by J&J talc products.  The jury awarded $25 million to each plaintiff, for a total of $550 million in compensatory damages, and found J&J liable on counts of strict liability and negligence.  The jury then spent less than two hours deliberating the punitive damages…
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Delaware Jury Issues $40.6 Million Verdict Superior Court for the State of Delaware, June 7, 2018

DELAWARE – On Friday, June 8th, the jury returned a $40.6 million verdict in Larry W. Knecht, et Ux. v. Borg-Warner Corporation, et Al, a Delaware asbestos case. The case was tried under New Mexico law. The jury found Ford strictly liable due to a failure to warn, and apportioned 30 percent fault to the decedent, Larry Knecht, and 20 percent to Ford. The remainder of the liability was apportioned as follows: General Motors and Chrysler (20 percent each) and…
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Iowa Supreme Court Clarifies Issues in Appeal of $6.5 Million Verdict Supreme Court of Iowa, June 1, 2018

IOWA — In 2014, the Estate of Larry Kinseth prevailed in a trial against boiler manufacturer, Weil-McLain, in Iowa District Court for Wright County. The plaintiff was awarded $4 million in compensatory damages, of which Weil-McLain was assessed 25 percent liability. The plaintiff then successfully argued for the application of punitive damages against Weil-McLain, and the jury awarded $2.5million in that phase of the trial. Weil-McLain appealed, based mostly on the conduct of the plaintiff’s counsel during closing arguments, and was successful on appeal in…
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$21.7 Million Compensatory Verdict and $4 Million Punitive Awards in California Asbestos-Talc Case Los Angeles, California

CALIFORNIA — Sixty-eight year old Plaintiff Joanne Anderson sued Johnson & Johnson (J & J) and other defendants in state court in Los Angeles in 2017, alleging that her mesothelioma was caused in part by use of talcum powder that was contaminated with asbestos.  On Wednesday, May 23, 2018, a California jury returned a $21.7 million compensatory verdict for the plaintiff, assigning 67 percent to J & J.  The jury is still deliberating on whether to award punitive damages. Today, the jury awarded $4 million…
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Jury Finds Pipe Manufacturer Did Not Have a Duty to Warn Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, March 23, 2018

PENNSYLVANIA — Decedent Ernest Schrader alleged that he developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos from dozens of products during 40 years of working in a DuPont facility in Delaware. Pipe manufacturer Ameron International Corporation was the lone defendant at a two week trial in state court in Philadelphia. Earlier this week, the jury determined that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from Ameron. However, the jury did not find that Ameron was negligent, evidently accepting evidence that the company complied with OSHA standards at the…
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In Talc Case, Gaps in Chain of Custody Lead to Partial Exclusion of Opinions of Plaintiff’s Geologist California Court of Appeal, August 25, 2017

Plaintiff Delgadina Alfaro alleged the development of mesothelioma due to asbestos contained in talcum powder she used as a child. The jury found for defendants Colgate-Palmolive Company, the manufacturer of Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder, and Imerys Talc America, Inc., the successor-in-interest to talc suppliers for Colgate, including Cyprus. The plaintiff appealed, and the court affirmed. The plaintiff claimed that her mother and grandmother used Cashmere Bouquet and that she used it as well. Her years of exposure were 1977-90. Colgate made Cashmere Bouquet from 1871-1985,…
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Jury Verdict Returned in Favor of Boiler Defendant Despite a Finding of Product Exposure and Negligence in Mesothelioma Case Supreme Court of New York, New York County, May 3, 2017

The Evans matter involved an 87 year deceased mesothelioma claimant.  All defendants resolved prior to trial with the exception of Burnham Corporation.  After a 2 ½ week trial before Judge Moulton, the jury returned a defense verdict for Burnham, finding that there was exposure to asbestos from a Burnham product, and that Burnham was negligent, but that Burnham’s negligence was not a substantial contributing factor to Mr. Evan’s mesothelioma.…
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