The widow of a man who passed away from mesothelioma was awarded $1.4 million on September 21, 2009 following seven days at trial.
After deliberating for two days, a Hamilton County, Tennessee jury unanimously found North Brothers (National Services Industries) guilty of selling defective products to the company where Wayne Jackson worked, causing or contributing to Jackson’s mesothelioma diagnosis.
Jackson’s wife Marian filed a lawsuit against the company after her husband died following a battle with mesothelioma, a cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. During his work as a pipefitter from 1952 through 1986 at Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mr. Jackson was exposed to asbestos-contaminated products.
North Brothers sold some of the defective products used by employees to Combustion Engineering, causing the 12-member jury to rule in favor of Mrs. Jackson’s allegations that the company caused or contributed to her late husband’s malignant mesothelioma development.
“This verdict represents a milestone victory for asbestos victims – not only for Combustion retirees in the Chattanooga area, but also for all people exposed to asbestos throughout Tennessee and the Chattanooga metropolitan area as well,” said Mrs. Jackson’s attorney. “Hopefully this verdict wills send a signal to asbestos manufacturers and suppliers that the days of getting away with knowingly exposing Tennessee citizens and workers to poisonous and defective products is over.”
Up until the 1980s asbestos-contaminated products were heavily used in myriad industries due to the mineral’s innate resistance to heat and fire. Many people were exposed to asbestos during the course of their daily work.
Today, many of those exposed to asbestos decades ago are beginning to present symptoms of mesothelioma. Symptoms of the cancer typically take 20 to 50 years to surface, which may make diagnosis difficult. Though a cure for the cancer does not currently exist, treatment options are available to patients to help combat mesothelioma.
Additional information about mesothelioma may be found through the mesothelioma Center.