Tag Archives: asbestos

A drywall worker who built houses during the California housing boom in the 1970s, when asbestos was used in virtually every type of building material, has won a $27 million jury award for a cancer caused by the toxic substance. When he was still in high school in 1967, Michael Sutherland got a job as a drywaller and continued working on residential and office buildings in San Diego County for over 25 years. Sutherland would rush from job to job, …

A judge has drastically reduced a $3 million jury verdict awarded to the widow of a worker who died from cancer after years of handling products made with asbestos. Companies have been ordered by juries to pay millions of dollars only to have the damages slashed by a judge after trial. Under “tort reform,” many states have passed laws that limit how much an injured person can collect, such as by capping damages at a few hundred thousand dollars. Juries …

An appeals court has thrown out a $17.5 million jury verdict against Exxon won by a worker nearly two years ago. Rubert “Bert” Minton was exposed to asbestos when he worked on 17 Exxon oil tankers as a supervisor for his employer, a shipbuilding company in Newport News, Va., for over a decade. He developed mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure that attacks the lung’s linings. Minton and his wife, Linda, sued Exxon, arguing it knew about the dangers …

Obesity Now Considered a Workplace Disability When the Americans with Disabilities Act was originally created, obesity was considered a disability only when due to an underlying physiological disorder such as diabetes. Today, any type of obesity is considered a disability, meaning obese employees have new rights in the workplace and cannot be discriminated against because of their weight. Find Out More…   Can You Badmouth Your Boss Online? [Video] You have the right to call your employer names on Facebook, …

Juries continue to award big verdicts to workers who develop the deadly form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma after working with asbestos products. In the most recent jury trial, the family of a New York pipefitter who was exposed to asbestos for more than a decade won a $3 million award. Gerald Suttner worked at the GM Powertrain facility in Tonawanda, N.Y. for nearly four decades. Suttner repaired valves made by Crane Co. with gaskets containing asbestos. Suttner was …