FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1998
21 steelworkers who contracted
asbestos disease win $115 million
By STEVE OLAFSON three plaintiffs have asbestosis William Naugher, 52. “Then they
Houston Chronicle symptoms, they said. turned their backs on us and said,
Medical testimony for the defense `Hey, it’s not our fault.’ “
ANGLETON — A Brazoria County contended that the men suffered ail- Lanier said it probably will be
jury awarded $115.6 million to 21 ments unrelated to asbestos. years before his clients receive any
steelworkers Thursday for asbestos The steelworkers ‘ attorney, Mark money because of probable appeals.
disease they contracted at an Alaba- Lanier of Houston, said the lawsuit “They’ll hope some of these fel-
ma steel mill. was tried in Texas because an Al- lows pass away before they have to
Finding that The Carborundum abama law requires that asbestos pay anything,” he said.
Co. acted with gross negligence and lawsuits be filed within a year of ex- During the punitive phase of the
malice, the jury assessed $100 mil- posure. trial, he asked the jury to consider
lion in punitive damages against the Symptoms of asbestosis may not awarding $15.31 billion in damages
company, which manufactured an become evident until 15 to 20 years — more than the tobacco industry’s
asbestos-containing grinding wheel after exposure, he said. settlement with the state of Texas.
that was used to cut pipe at the U.S. Jurors, after rendering their ver- “I was dead serious. This is a com-
Steel plant in Birmingham. dict, said they wanted to punish the pany that sold their wheels off the
Earlier in the day, jurors had company for continuing to market back of American labor,” Lanier
agreed on a $15.6 million judgment the cutting tool long after it became said. “As soon as the asbestos cases
against the company for failing to known that asbestos causes serious started filing, they disbanded all
warn the men of health dangers they health problems. their American activities, moved
faced when using the cutting tool. “They deliberately let these men overseas and tried to hide. At least
The judgment was the nation’s work with things that were haz- the tobacco companies started ad-
first asbestos-related jury award ardous to their health, and I think mitting they did something wrong.”
against a grinding-wheel manufac- that’s just a shame,” said juror Sue Carborundum moved its corporate
turer. Mann, 47, of Clute, a labor union headquarters to Paris and trans-
The attorney for Carborundum, business representative. ferred its bonded abrasives division
contending that jurors were swayed The steelworkers did not use to Brazil in the 1980s, Lanier said.
by emotion, said he probably will ap- masks while wielding the cutting Carborundum’s attorney, Jeff
peal the decision. tool inches from their faces. Two of Marsh of Houston, said he was “ab-
The steelworkers, while apprecia- the original plaintiffs died of cancer solutely astounded” that jurors as-
tive of the verdict, said the judgment before their lawsuit reached the sessed punitive damages, contend-
won’t compensate them for their de- courtroom, and those still living say ing that they let sympathy for the
clining health. they suffer shortness of breath and steelworkers affect their decision.
“This is great, but I’ve got to walk chronic coughing. “The plaintiffs were nice individu-
around with it in my lungs the rest of The claims of the two who died als and I think the emotional effect
my life,” said Jackie Davis, 47. “I feel were settled out of court. of their testimony overcame a lot of
like justice has been done, but “We didn’t know what we were the medical issues,” Marsh said.
money’s no good to a dead man.” using was harmful,” said plaintiff Larry Kattner, one of two jurors to
Some of the men said they hope vote against assessing punitive dam-
that, should they succumb to as- ages and the only jury member who
bestos disease, the judgment will voted against assessing actual dam-
help their families. ages, said his fellow jurors discount-
Extensive medical testimony from ed defense medical testimony that
both sides was heard before state favored Carborundum.
District Judge Ben Hardin during “I still feel like I’m the only one
the four-week trial. that got it right,” said Kattner, 43, an
Medical experts for the steelwork- air traffic controller from Pearland.
ers testified that 18 of the Alabama Nevertheless, it took only about 30
men suffer from asbestosis, an in- minutes for 10 of the jurors to agree
curable disease in which lung tissue on the $100 million punitive damage
is scarred from the inhalation of air- judgment.
borne asbestos fibers. The other
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