Asbestos Verdict of Over $868,000 for Family of Drywall Taper

A jury returned a verdict of over $868,000 in favor of a Brayton Purcell client, the family of a drywall taper who died of asbestoses and asbestos pleural disease.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 18, 2007 -- A San Francisco jury ruled last week in favor of the family of a drywall taper in a products liability trial against a former manufacturer and supplier of asbestos-containing joint compound, spray texture, and acoustical ceiling spray. The jury determined that defendant Rich-Tex, Inc.'s asbestos-containing products were defectively designed and assessed $368,787.64 in economic damages and $500,000 in non-economic damages.

Douglas Ivance died on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003, from respiratory failure caused in part by asbestoses and severe asbestos-related pleural disease. He had been a career drywall taper throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for 47 years.

We appreciate the jury's hard work in reaching a just verdict

Mr. Ivance worked with asbestos-containing drywall products, including joint compound, spray texture and acoustical ceiling spray. Based in Richmond, California, Rich-Tex, Inc. was a manufacturer and supplier of asbestos-containing drywall products, including joint compound, spray texture and acoustical ceiling spray, from 1963 to 1977. The company supplied asbestos-containing drywall products to the majority of Mr. Ivance's employers during that time period, when Mr. Ivance used the products.

At trial, plaintiffs presented evidence showing that when used as intended, Rich-Tex, Inc.'s asbestos-containing products had to be mixed, applied, sanding, and cleaned up--all of which released hazardous asbestos dust.

"We appreciate the jury's hard work in reaching a just verdict," said James P. Nevin, counsel for the Ivance family. Mr. Nevin, along with Laurel Halbany of Brayton Purcell LLP, represented the Ivance family at the trial, which began on January 16, 2007.

The case was Aline Ivance, Vicky Woolley, and Lindy Schluter v. Rich-Tex, Inc (San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. 419435). Judge Julie Tang of Department 303 of the San Francisco Superior Court presided. Defendant Rich-Tex, Inc. was represented at trial by Michael J. Boland of Imai, Tadlock, Keeney & Cordery LLP.

About Brayton Purcell

For over 24 years, Brayton Purcell has helped clients protect their legal rights in the face of devastating losses such as illness, injuries, and harm to family members. The law firm enjoys a national reputation for the high quality of its personal injury and product liability work, particularly in the area of asbestos litigation.

For more information, call 415-898-1555 or visit the firm web site at http://www.braytonlaw.com

Asbestos in Children's Toys!

Just when we think we are safe from asbestos...we live with a false sense of security. "Oh, asbestos is a thing of the past. They don't use it anymore." That appears to be wrong! Asbestos is still being used in consumer products. Asbestos is THE ONLY know cause of asbestosis and the lung cancer-mesothelioma. These illnesses are 100% preventable. Somehow companies are still allowed to use asbestos. It is an outrage!

NDP issues Christmas toy asbestos warning

November 30, 2007 - 15:17

Stephen Thorne, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - The NDP is calling on the federal government to shut down Canada's asbestos industry and scrap "horrifying" regulations that allow the use of the cancer-causing mineral in children's toys and other products.

New Democrat MPs Pat Martin and Libby Davies released test results Friday showing that asbestos is present in CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit - a popular new children's toy made in China.

"Asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and you would have to be insane to put asbestos in children's toys," said Martin.

"It would be like putting razor blades in Halloween apples. So what does that say about a government that would allow it?"

Martin said new regulations under Canada's Hazardous Materials Act allow asbestos-laden products "used by a child in education or play."

The NDP wants Health Minister Tony Clement to order testing of toys for asbestos, and it's demanding the Tory government repeal the legislation - which was updated on Wednesday - and ban asbestos from all products in Canada.

The Conservative government has fallen prey to "aggressive industry lobbyists" and is keeping its head in the sand about the dangers of asbestos, the NDP charged.

Japan, Australia, South Africa and all countries of the European Union have banned asbestos, Davies said.

"There is no safe level of asbestos," Davies said. "There's no question that it's a carcinogen.

"We are exporting human misery at a staggering rate. Canada should be joining the international community to stop the production of asbestos and its export."

Canada, which exports more than 200,000 tonnes of asbestos each year, should develop a relief program for workers and shut down the industry, she added.

The NDP produced test results from three different U.S. laboratories showing that dusting powder in the popular CSI Fingerprint Examination Kit - labelled for use by children aged 10 and up - contains five per cent tremolite asbestos, a particularly virulent form of the mineral.

Symptoms of exposure to tremolite asbestos dust can show up anytime from a couple years up to 40 years after first exposure. No safe exposure threshold for any of the asbestos minerals has been established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The $20-$30 CSI kit is made in China and licensed by CBS, which produces the popular crime-science television show. CBS Consumer Products said this week that it has asked its licensee to commission an independent asbestos test.

"If the toy is determined to be unsafe, then we will insist that the licensee remove it from the market," a CBS spokesman said in a statement.

New York-based Planet Toys Worldwide was quoted as saying the firm frequently inspects its plants in China that make the CSI toys.

A spokeswoman said the CSI kit meets all U.S. safety standards, but noted that U.S. agencies "don't require asbestos testing and therefore we have never been apprised of any unacceptable levels of asbestos."

She said any toys shown to contain "unacceptable" products will be withdrawn from the market.

The toy remained on many retail websites in Canada and the United States on Friday.

Research has found that needle-like crystals permanently penetrate the lung tissue when dust-sized particles of asbestos are inhaled.

The crystals can eventually cause scarring of the lungs, called asbestosis, and can cause cancer of the lining of the lung, called mesothelioma. Both diseases are incurable and terminal.

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl was diagnosed in August 2005 with mesothelioma. A former logging contractor, he spent years inhaling asbestos-laced brake dust from heavy equipment.

The U.S.-based Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, created in 2004 by asbestos victims and their families, had government-certified laboratories examine asbestos content in hundreds of consumer products.

The results were released Wednesday. It found asbestos in a variety of consumer products, including some drywall repair materials, roof sealers and duct tapes.

Jury awards $30M to family in asbestos death

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By The Associated Press

HACKENSACK — The family of a man who died from an asbestos-related cancer was awarded $30.3 million from a New Jersey jury, their lawyer said yesterday.

The award is believed to be the largest in New Jersey for mesothelioma, an aggressive lung cancer, said the lawyer, Moshe Maimon.

The disease killed 50-year-old Mark Buttitta in 2002, although he had only handled auto parts containing asbestos while working summers at giant GM warehouses in New Jersey, Maimon said.

However, Buttitta’s father worked there, and his brother also spent summers at the warehouse, the lawyer said.

The three men wore the same work clothes for several days “bringing home cancer-causing fibers every day from work, unknowingly letting the microscopic fibers fragments waft throughout their home and settle,” said Maimon, who specializes in asbestos cases.

“Worse yet, as a young boy Mark would sit on his dad’s lap — or next to him on the sofa — every night to watch TV, and was innocently exposed to asbestos,” he said.

The six-person Bergen County jury on Tuesday found against Asbestos Corp. Ltd. of Canada, which provided material for GM brakes, and BorgWarner Inc. of Michigan, which made clutches. The verdict came after four hours of deliberations following several weeks of testimony, Maimon said.

Both companies are expected to appeal, he said.

BorgWarner spokeswoman Mary Brevard confirmed the company planned to appeal. “We don’t believe the evidence supports the verdict,” she said.

Efforts to reach Asbestos Corp. representatives and lawyers were unsuccessful.

Buttitta, an advertising executive who lived in Glen Ridge, grew up in Bloomfield, where the warehouse was located before it moved to Englewood. If upheld, the verdict would benefit his widow and three daughters.

Attorney General suing Slotky, Huff over asbestos

By M.K. Guetersloh
mkguetersloh@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- Attorney General Lisa Madigan is suing a downtown building owner for improperly removing asbestos found in floor tiles from the Front ‘N Center Building in 2006.

Building owner Merle Huff of Peoria and Ben Slotky of Bloomington are named in the three-count lawsuit filed in McLean County Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleges Huff and Slotky failed to use a licensed asbestos contractor and that Huff and Slotky failed to follow the necessary removal process.

Slotky, developer and owner of the former Castle Theater, 209 E. Washington St., proposed a portion of Huff’s building at 102 N. Center St. be turned into a restaurant. In March 2006, Slotky was clearing out the space when the Illinois Department of Public Health received a complaint that flooring was being removed and thrown into unsealed plastic garbage bags, according to the lawsuit.

“Because there is no known safe exposure level to asbestos, this careless and improper handling of a known carcinogen created a very serious danger to public health,” Madigan said in statement issued Monday about the case.

The state health department stopped the work and told Huff to hire a licensed contractor to properly remove the asbestos.

“We didn’t get involved until six months later, after the state health department received the complaint, did the inspection and dealt with Huff on trying to get the abatement done,” said Assistant Attorney General Raymond Callery.

The attorney general’s office is notified when the health department orders work stopped for improperly removed asbestos, Callery added.

Huff would not comment. Slotky could not be reached for comment.

A hearing on the case is set for June.

Callery said the attorney general’s office is seeking fines and penalties but did not specify an amount. He said that would be set by a judge.

Earlier this year, the IDPH returned to the Front ‘N Center building after receiving a call that people were removing building materials. Inspectors found that asbestos-containing materials from the 2006 inspection had been disturbed, said department spokeswoman Melanie Arnold said. Work again was ordered stopped on Jan. 29.

Arnold said the health department had referred the case to the attorney general’s office before the second inspection occurred. More information about the second inspection will be referred to the attorney general’s office, Arnold said.

Workers are NOT aware of the dangers of asbestos exposure

Many workers 'asbestos ignorant'

Most tradespeople are unaware of the health risks linked to asbestos, a survey suggests.

Source: BBC News.com

The British Lung Foundation said just 12% of the 400 it questioned knew exposure could lead to them developing the incurable lung cancer mesothelioma.

Three-quarters had not had any training on dealing with asbestos and just over 25% thought some levels were safe.

Asbestos was commonly used for insulation and as a fire-retardant in buildings until the mid-1980s.

The Health and Safety Executive says any building built or refurbished before 2000 could contain asbestos.

It is currently the main cause of work-related ill-health.

Asbestos poses a risk through its fibres, which can become lodged in the lungs when breathed in.

Tradespeople have the highest risk of developing mesothelioma - 20 die from the disease each week and deaths are continuing to rise.

The cancer develops between 15 and 60 years after exposure to asbestos and the BLF is warning that cases are set to peak between 2011 and 2015.

Site checks

It surveyed builders, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, joiners and gas fitters and found one in 10 had felt under pressure to continue working even if they suspected asbestos was present.

In addition, nearly a third mistakenly believed all asbestos had now been removed from British buildings.

Just over 25% thought some levels of asbestos were safe, with builders most likely to think there was no risk.

The majority of tradesmen - 81% - said they never, rarely or only sometimes asked if the site they were working on had been checked for asbestos before they started a job - even though it is a legal requirement for them to be informed if it is present.

Dame Helena Shovelton, BLF chief executive, said: "It is a great worry that those most at risk of this cruel cancer know so little about a killer that could be lurking in the building they're working on today.

"We want mesothelioma to become a disease of the past, but until people put their health first and protect themselves against asbestos that goal can't be reached."

'Serious threat'

A spokesman for the Federation of Master Builders agreed there was too little knowledge about the risks.

He said: "The problem is that there is a general misconception, particularly amongst tradesmen and home owners, that asbestos is a thing of the past so there is no need to worry about it.

"Tradesmen need to understand that this is a serious threat that could be present in any job that they go to, and that they need to understand how to identify asbestos, and what to do when they find it."

All those who work in the building industry, or a related trade, are encouraged to go the Health and Safety Executive website for information on working with asbestos.

Grace Bets On Winning Asbestos Lawsuits

Judge's Ruling May Decide Firm's Future

By Zachary A. Goldfarb

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 28, 2008; Page D01

A century-and-a-half-old chemical company in Columbia is betting its future on an unusual legal strategy that might be called Grace's Last Stand.

Over the years, industrial companies have agreed to pay tens of billions of dollars to resolve asbestos lawsuits filed on behalf of workers who said they used products that caused cancer or lung damage.

W.R. Grace followed the same tack for a while. But pushed into bankruptcy, it now is trying the novel approach of asking a bankruptcy judge to declare many of the roughly 100,000 claims it faces to be invalid.

The company is making the request as part of its effort to emerge from bankruptcy. In order for Grace to exit bankruptcy, the judge must rule on what liabilities the company faces, and that means deciding how many of the claims are valid and what they might total. The judge's decision does not resolve the individual claims, but it could set a standard for further litigation.

The trial started two weeks ago, and already Judge Judith Fitzgerald has allowed the company to introduce testimony purporting to show that diseases were over-diagnosed in many cases.

"This case and this trial present the first opportunity for a federal court to set a standard on the basis of which the tens of thousands of asbestos claims that are being pursued can be resolved based upon their merit," said David Bernick, a lawyer representing Grace who has a long history defending companies against similar lawsuits.

Grace's move is risky. The judge's decision could mean the difference between whether the company continues -- or watches shareholder value evaporate and its ownership shift to the asbestos claimants. Grace acknowledges it is responsible for around $500 million in claims. The plaintiffs want up to $6 billion, several multiples of the company's market value. Both sides expect the judge to rule in early May.

Opposing lawyers say Grace's move is flawed because it looks to break with more than a decade of tradition in which state courts with juries have settled such lawsuits on a case-by-case basis.

"I don't think anybody would dispute that a personal injury claimant would be entitled to a jury trial," said lawyer Roger Frankel. "That's being done away with this approach. And you can do that if you get the consent of the claimants. But you can't do that over their objection."

Frankel works for a court-appointed official who represents future asbestos claimants. Calls to lawyers representing current claimants were not returned.

Throughout the case, Grace's stock price has held up. Though way off highs in the late 1990s, the company's stock is up several hundred percent in the past few years. It closed Friday at $20.64.

The company, which employs 6,400 people worldwide, manufactures chemicals and construction materials. The asbestos at issue was used in fireproofing and insulation products.

Asbestos lawsuits have been a prominent battleground for the competing claims of trial lawyers and corporations over the years, a debate that has played out over weight loss pills, tobacco, silicon breast implants and other products.

Richard A. Nagareda, a mass-torts expert at Vanderbilt University Law School, said such disputes typically end with a settlement. Grace's approach "is a whole change of strategy."

Critics argue that asbestos suits increasingly have featured suspect medical evidence.

"This could be the first time in more than 80 asbestos-related bankruptcies where a court will allow the company to try to prove that thousands of pending claims are bogus and not legitimate," said Lester Brickman, a Cardozo Law School professor at Yeshiva University.

Brickman said that lawyers representing potential claimants often organize mass screenings for people who have been exposed to asbestos. But those screenings, he said, document much higher rates of lung damage than those done in clinical settings.

Frankel challenged that view, saying that it is cancer, not lung damage, that brings most claimants to court. Cancer diagnoses are not as susceptible to abuse because they require more extensive and individualized tests.

Action Mesothelioma Day

Victims are remembered

Published Date: 21 February 2008

• Source: Sheffield Star
• Location: Sheffield

By Gail Robinson

HUNDREDS of South York-shire people who lost their lives to asbestos exposure will be remembered at a poignant event in Doncaster next week.

Industrial disease experts from Raleys Solicitors will release a balloon in their memory to mark Action Mesothelioma Day on Wednesday, a national day of awareness about the killer asbestos-related cancer, which claims the lives of around 2,000 people every year.

The event, at Priory Place Methodist Church, has been organised by Sheffield and Rotherham Asbestos Group, which Raleys partner Carol Gill helps to coordinate as a trustee.