Asbestos News Roundup: 1.23.14 – CA Drought Conditions, Wildfires & Asbestos

January 23rd, 2014. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

California Wildfire Asbestos Exposure 

Drought conditions are never a good thing–but they’re even worse when they lead to the increased potential for wildfires. As wildfires potentially devastate homes in southern California, many people may be faced with cleaning up and rebuilding, and may be at risk for asbestos exposure. Across California, asbestos was used heavily in many building materials up until the mid-1980s. If these asbestos containing materials are disturbed through renovations or demolitions, or become friable with age, the asbestos may become airborne and spread throughout a property. Eventually these asbestos fibers will settle and may contribute to dusts found in buildings. This puts people working or living in those buildings at risk for asbestos exposure, without their knowledge.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Asbestos fibers may be released into the air by the disturbance of asbestos-containing material during product use, demolition work, building or home maintenance, repair, and remodeling.” The EPA goes on to report, “Exposure to asbestos increases your risk of developing lung disease. That risk is made worse by smoking. In general, the greater the exposure to asbestos, the greater the chance of developing harmful health effects.”

In 1987, asbestos was added to California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, better known as Proposition 65. Prop 65 lists chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm to people living in the state of California.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Olympia, WA: Washington’s Workers’ Compensation law, known as the Industrial Insurance Act, is under fire over a mesothelioma victims’ lawsuit alleging The Boeing Company “deliberately intended” to harm him because it knew of the dangers involved with asbestos in the work environment.

In the case at hand, claimant Gary Walston worked at The Boeing Company’s hammer shop in Seattle from 1956 until 1992, where he fabricated metal airplane parts. While he claims he worked with and around asbestos-containing products throughout his career, there was a time period in 1985 where crews were repairing pipe insulation containing asbestos directly above Walston’s work station.

The insulation workers wore what Walston’s co-workers called “moon suits” for protection, but hammer shop workers continued working without protective clothing or respirators.

The hammer shop workers allegedly requested protection but were told to return to work but try to avoid working directly under the overhead repairs as dust and debris fell on the workers below.

Walston was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2010. He and his wife filed suit against his employer. Boeing moved for summary judgment dismissing Walston’s claims, arguing employer immunity under the exclusivity provisions of the IIA. (Legal Newsline.com)

Asbestos Settlements

Cleveland, OH: Forty-year old John Panza, an English professor at Cuyahoga Community College and drummer with a popular Cleveland rock trio, Blaka Watra, has been awarded $27.5 million in settlement of his asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit. The settlement is reportedly the largest award of its kind ever in Ohio.

Panza was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2012, resulting from prolonged second-hand or take home exposure to clothing worn by his father, who picked up the asbestos dust at his job at the Eaton Airflex brake company. John Panza Sr., 52, died of lung cancer in 1994. He had worked at Airflex for 31 years, and previously served as president of the company’s union.

The asbestos brake pads were manufactured by the former National Friction Products Corp. John Jr. and his wife Jane, filed suit against Kelsey-Hayes Co., the Michigan-based successor to National Friction Products, and the lone remaining defendant at the time of the verdict, returned December 18, 2013.

The verdict breaks down the settlement as economic damages of $515,000 and $12 million in non-economic damages. The jury also awarded Jane Panza, who is just 37, $15 million for her loss of consortium claim, or the deprivation of the benefits of a family relationship due to her husband’s asbestos mesothelioma.

The eight-member jury attributed 60 percent of the liability to Kelsey-Hayes, finding that the company’s brake products were defective and primarily responsible for causing Panza’s cancer.

The Panza’s testimony was emotional, according to the judge. The couple went to high school and attended college together They have a 6-year-old daughter.

Prior to the trial, Panza underwent four separate surgeries and almost died, said John Mismas, one of Panza’s lawyers. Panza’s right lung was removed, and the invasive cancer is almost certain to eventually spread to his left lung, he said. “He’s going to die,” Mismas said.(thecleveland.com)

Los Angeles, CA: An $11million asbestos mesothelioma settlement has been awarded to the family of Gordon Bankhead. The plaintiffs alleged their father and husband was exposed to asbestos dust through his work with vehicle brake parts and that the defendant company’s liability was the cause of wrongful death which led to the loss of companionship for family members of the Mr. Bankhead.

According to the asbestos lawsuit, Gordon Bankhead worked as a parts man from 1965 to 1999 in the service and repair of heavy duty vehicles. He handled asbestos-containing brakes regularly, and was present for the inspection, replacement, grinding, and blowing out of asbestos-containing brakes. All of these activities caused him to breathe deadly asbestos dust. Defendant Pneumo Abex manufactured many of the brake linings Mr. Bankhead was exposed to.

This was the second trial regarding the Bankhead family and defendant Pneumo Abex. The jury in the first trial, on liability, found Defendant Pneumo Abex 30% liable. The jury found that Pneumo Abex’s asbestos-containing brakes were defective, and that Pneumo Abex negligently, intentionally, and maliciously caused Mr. Bankhead’s mesothelioma, from which he died at age 68.

The jury awarded Mr. Bankhead $1,470,000 for his past and future economic loss, and $1,500,000 for his pain and suffering. The jury also awarded his wife, Emily Bankhead $1,000,000 for her loss of her husband’s support and companionship. The jury found that defendants’ actions were malicious, fraudulent, and/or oppressive and awarded $9,000,000 in punitive damages against Pneumo Abex. Pneumo Abex appealed the verdict, which was subsequently upheld.

Mr. Bankhead’s death gave rise to a new case to compensate his family for their loss of his companionship. In this second trial, which commenced January 13, 2014, Pneumo Abex was not allowed to dispute its responsibility for Mr. Bankhead’s death. The jury was not told the reasons for Pneumo Abex’s liability, nor were they told about the circumstances of Mr. Bankhead’s death. The jury was tasked with deciding the full amount of Mr. Bankhead’s widow’s and daughters’ losses due to his wrongful death 17 years before his life expectancy. The Bankheads did not seek funeral expenses and other economic damages.

The second trial took just 2 days, resulting in a gross verdict if $11,000,000, and a net verdict of $3,300,000, non-economic damages of $6 million were awarded to Emily Bankhead, and $2.5 million to Tammy and Debbie Bankhead individually. (juryverdictalert.com)

 

Tags: Asbestos, asbestos lawsuit, Asbestos Mesothelioma, asbestos risk, Asbestos Settlement

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