Texas Family Wins $11 Million Lawsuit over Asbestos-Containing Painting Material

Dallas, TXA Texas jury awarded a Dallas couple a settlement of roughly $11 million in a lawsuit alleging that working with asbestos-containing construction material caused the husband to develop mesothelioma.

Vernon Walker, a 67-year-old retiree, had worked for years as a union painter, helping to construct strip malls, skyscrapers and private homes over the years. Over the years, Mr. Walker came into contact with a number of items that contained asbestos, including texturing paints, drywall components and block filters.

Walker and his wife, Patsy, filed the suit against an asbestos mining company and several product manufacturers last year.

Construction workers and associated trades people were at a significantly higher risk of exposure to asbestos during the 1960s and 70s, when health regulations related to the material were loosely enforced at best.

Officials from the Consumer Products Safety Commission began banning or strictly regulating items containing the hazardous material in 1978 for being "unreasonably dangerous," according to Asbestos.net.

Frequent exposure to asbestos fiber can place an individual at risk of developing a number of adverse effects, including asbestos cancer, asbestosis (scarring of the lungs that affects breathing) and mesothelioma, a form of cancer that attacks the lining of the chest cavity.