Mesothelioma Lawsuit Settles for $2.1 Million for New Jersey Construction Worker

A 48-year-old New Jersey (NJ) union construction worker, who had his left lung removed after he was diagnosed with occupational mesothelioma cancer, received a $2.1 million settlement from a lawsuit he filed against the manufacturers of the asbestos construction products that eventually led to his death.

$2.1 Million Settlement

The New Jersey law office of Weitz & Luxenberg negotiated the settlement on behalf of theworker’s surviving family – his wife and two children. According to his lawyer: “Almost every construction product used before the 1980s contained asbestos. Back then, manufacturers deliberately omitted health care warnings, and employers rarely provided workers with equipment to protect them against the fatal diseases asbestos causes.”

The construction worker joined his local New Jersey pipefitters’ union as an apprentice in 1978, straight out of high school. Thirty years later he was dead from mesothelioma – the signature asbestos-related disease that claims the lives of hundreds of retired construction workers every year due to the unbridled use of toxic asbestos materials in the U.S. construction industry.

“The only time I started seeing safety masks on the job was about the late 80s,” the construction worker testified during his deposition. “That’s when they started offering me them, by saying, ‘It's dusty, you know. You’re hammering and drilling in the ceilings. It's coming down in your face, put the mask on.’ ”

He died exactly two weeks after the deposition, leaving behind a wife and two sons, aged 8 and 10.

Asbestos is no longer mined in the United States, but it is still imported and used in construction. Websites still sell asbestos-made products to industry contractors. With the enactment of federal regulations to protect workers against occupational asbestos exposure, new construction work is no longer as risky as it used to be.



But renovation work on old buildings still holds certain perils. That’s because large amounts of asbestos materials remain deeply embedded in the infrastructure of most buildings built before 1980. Toxic asbestos exposure occurs when workers disturb these materials inadvertently during renovation and demolition activities.

Most cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed 20 to 40 years after a job-related asbestosexposure. That’s why, despite today’s regulatory protections, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta predict the number of cases of mesothelioma will peak this year in the United States. Currently, some 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed in the country every year.

Drywaller Awarded $26.6M in Asbestos MesotheliomaLawsuit

San Pedro, Cali: A particular asbestos mesothelioma verdict was achieve in March in the matter of Michael Sutherland, an ex drywaller clinically determined to have mesothelioma, the cancer brought on by asbestos. The L.A. Superior Court that heard the situation returned its judgement awarding $26 million to the victim.

Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit For $26.6M

Mike sayd that he performed as a drywaller in north San Diego County all the way back from1967, while still was attending High School, throughout 1993. Mike worked at numerous residential and business jobsites throughout the construction “boom” which occurred in northern county during the 1970s, at that time the cancer-causing asbestos was found in many construction items including joint substance, fire-rated drywall, stucco, roofing andasbestos concrete pipe.




“With all of the trades taking care of top of each one other looking to finish one work and begin the next, it absolutely was always dusty”.

The Sutherlands’ lawsuit was submitted on June 20, 2012. Over 31 defendants were called in the case. Thesettlements were achieved with numerous defendants just before trial. Stucco company, Highland Stucco plus Lime Products, the sole left over defendant at the trial, argued that various other corporations and even Sutherland himself was responsible for his direct exposure to asbestos. Nevertheless the jury eventually assessed fault on Highland because of its role in disclosing Mr. Sutherland along with other members from the public to the dangerous products.

We were surprised to find out at trial exactly how much asbestos is at stucco,” Mr Sutherland stated, “even although I rarely have worked with all the stuff, I had been exposed to dirt when the plastic bags were dumped within large mixers so when we needed to scrape off parts of over-spray into the houses through windows plus doors.”

Mr Sutherland is grateful to the jury’s award as well as the effort of his genuine team, but might gladly trade all of it for the yield of his wellness. Prior to his particular diagnosis in June 2012, Mike loved his job and realy had no plans for retiring. He additionally continued to engage his life-long love for surfing.

Construction Worker Settles Asbestos Lawsuit for $7.5M

Construction Worker Settles Asbestos Lawsuit for $7.5M

Los Angeles, CA: A construction worker who developed a highly aggressive cancer after hisexposure to asbestos, has resolved his asbestos lawsuit against the defendant companies for $7.5 million prior to trial. The plaintiff brought suit against several of the companies that manufactured the materials. The defendants severally denied liability.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the plaintiff was a construction worker helping install underground water and sewer lines beneath the Sacramento Valley city of Chico. His job involved working with pipes made from a concrete-asbestoscompound, which he would cut with a gasoline-powered saw. The cutting generated an enormous amount of cement-asbestos dust, which left the plaintiff covered head to toe by the end of the day. The plaintiff was later diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer, also rare except where attributable to asbestos exposure.

The plaintiff filed suit in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, seeking damages on a defective product liability action. The plaintiff sought recovery of medical expenses, lost wages, and non-economic recovery. The defendants named were several companies whomanufactured, sold or delivered the asbestos-containing pipes the plaintiff worked with, including Parex USA, Westburne Supply, John K. Bice Co., Los Angeles Rubber, Hajoca Corp., Hanson Permanente Cement, Keenan, Properties, J-M Manufacturing, Certainteed Corp., Ferguson Enterprises, Grinnell Corp., Amcord, Ameron International and Calportland.