Asbestos Plaintiff Wins $25 Million, Has Two Years to Live

Newport News, VAHe may have $25 million more than he did prior to St. Patrick's Day. However, Bert Minton's pot of gold is hardly at the edge of a rainbow and the 72-year-old former shipyard worker has about two years to spend it, before he faces a painful death from asbestos mesothelioma.

Minton's lawsuit against Exxon ended March 17 with a jury verdict in his favor—described as one of the largest jury verdicts ever seen in the state of Virginia. It is not known if Exxon plans to appeal the ruling. Such an appeal would eclipse the short time Mr. Minton has left to live.

According to the Associated Press (AP), Minton toiled on no fewer than 17 Exxon oil tankers, followed by a stint as a repair supervisor at Newport News Shipbuilding throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The plaintiff alleges that while working in those various capacities, he inhaled millions of asbestos fibers.

While his asbestos exposure is confined to those two decades, his diagnosis of asbestosis 30 years on is consistent with the long latency periods associated with asbestos exposure and the onset of asbestos-related disease.

AP reports that Minton's lungs were surgically removed and cleaned of asbestos cancer in 2009, then replaced. Nonetheless, doctors have given him about two years to live, before his expected demise by way of a painful death.

Minton's asbestos lawsuit claimed that Exxon had developed rules to protect refinery workers as far back as 1937, which is indicative of having certain knowledge about the dangers of asbestos even then. The plaintiff's asbestosis attorney noted that Minton's case revealed that the defendant knew about the dangers of asbestos from the 1940s, and was aware that asbestos caused mesothelioma as early as the 1960s.

Even though refinery workers were cautioned, the plaintiff claimed in his action—one of scores of Asbestos Lawsuits—that no such precautions were extended to workers in the shipyards or to crew members.

Shipyards are shielded from asbestos lawsuits through workman's compensation law, according to AP—as is the Navy, under defense contracting law.

Other asbestos lawsuits have been targeting the suppliers of asbestos-laden parts. However, Minton directed his asbestos claims against Exxon, and won.