Jury Finds for Asbestos Mesothelioma Plaintiff in $1.4 Million Award

Chattanooga, TNAs Mesothelioma lawsuits go, this one had a happy ending for a former asbestos worker's surviving family. The sad part is that the subject of the asbestos lawsuit, Wayne Jackson, did not live to see justice prevail after he was felled by the affects of asbestos.

Kenneth Wayne Jackson labored as a pipefitter at Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga, Tennessee spanning a 34-year period from 1952 through 1986. During the course of his tenure with the company Jackson, his family's lawsuit claimed, was repeatedly exposed to products that contained asbestos.

Many of those products were manufactured or sold by a key defendant in the lawsuit, North Brothers. The allegation in the lawsuit brought against Breeding Insulation Co. Inc. et al, was that North Brothers sold products to Combustion Engineering that were both defective and may have triggered the development of asbestos mesothelioma that ultimately took Jackson's life. The jury determined that it did.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is uniquely associated with asbestos exposure. It can take as long as three decades, and sometimes as long as 50 years following asbestos exposure for mesothelioma to emerge. There is no cure. Due to the incredible lag in the emergence of mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, many lawsuits are coming out now, dealing with exposure that had its beginnings at a time when concern over asbestos was in its infancy.

The $1.4 million verdict was brought after two days of deliberation by a Hamilton County jury, the culmination of a trial that WTVC News Channel 9 in Chattanooga reported as only the second asbestos trial in the state of Tennessee in 15 years.

Of the various defendants originally associated with the action, North Brothers was singled out for the huge award. Other defendants either settled with the plaintiff out of court, or were dismissed prior to the commencement of the trial.

Lead attorney for the plaintiff Jimmy Rodgers said in a statement, "This verdict represents a milestone victory for asbestos victims—not only for Combustion retirees in the Chattanooga area, but also for all people exposed to asbestos throughout Tennessee and the Chattanooga metropolitan area as well. Hopefully this verdict will send a signal to asbestos manufacturers and suppliers that the days of getting away with knowingly exposing Tennessee citizens and workers to poisonous and defective products (are) over."

The verdict for the plaintiff was returned September 20th at the conclusion of a seven-day trial. North Brothers currently conducts business as National Service Industries. It is not known if the asbestos mesothelioma verdict will be appealed.